On America’s political front, 2024 might end up being the most divisive year people of this nation will witness and experience in their lifetime.

Many Americans already are longing for the day when the presidential election will have come and gone and, on that note some already are looking forward to winter, even if winter has not been their favorite season up to now.

Most Americans want harmony and cohesiveness, even if they harbor differences of opinion on certain major or not-so-major issues.

The kind of disrespect being lobbed virtually non-stop within and from virtually every nook and cranny of America is not just hurtful, but damaging as well. It needs to stop.

Today — Memorial Day — is a good time for a spirit of healing to take root. It is the day each year set aside for honoring the brave, selfless men and women who gave their lives while in this nation’s service.

Amid that remembrance, Americans also set aside time to remember and pray on behalf of family members and friends who have died.

Even though Memorial Day often is referred to as the unofficial start of the summer recreational season, it nevertheless retains its solemn aspect as most Americans acknowledge the foremost reason why it is observed.

That solemn aspect is recognizable along Memorial Day parade routes in many hundreds of communities across America — and certainly while family members and friends are visiting cemeteries that are the final resting place of relatives and friends.

Even amid family picnics that will be held on this day, more than a few tears will be shed as relatives and friends remember those now gone, especially those who have passed since last year’s Memorial Day observance.

The spirit and events of Memorial Day never will grow old despite not changing much from year to year. One recent exception, though, was 2020, when America and virtually all of the rest of this planet were dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an article published in the May 26, 2020, Mirror, the Associated Press reported that “Americans settled for small processions and online tributes instead of parades … as they observed Memorial Day in the shadow of the pandemic, which forced communities to honor the nation’s military dead with modest, more subdued ceremonies that also remembered those lost to the coronavirus.”

That article ended with the following quote — a quote worth remembering — from a man who was placing flowers on a grave in Billings, Montana:

“This is our freedom. This is our history. It’s what they fought for. Anything that shows respect for it is all right with me.”

A year later the Associated Press reported that “a nation slowly emerging from social distancing measures imposed by the coronavirus pandemic honored generations of U.S. veterans killed in the line of duty on a Memorial Day observed without the severe pandemic restrictions that affected the day of tribute just a year ago.

“Memorial Day parades and events were held in localities large and small across the country … many resuming after being canceled last year as the pandemic hit with full force.”

Good advice for Memorial Day 2024 is to remember this holiday for what it truly represents and, if weather permits, participate in outside activities that keep those traditions alive as well.

Yet remember to keep safety at the forefront, both on your own behalf and for those around you.