May 8, 2015

Today we celebrate:

National Student Nurses Day - Celebrated on this day within National Nurses Week, this is a day to appreciate those special people who are learning how to become the nurses that we will depend upon for help with all manner of problems.

Iris Day – Irises are a beautiful flower named after the Greek Goddess of rainbows. Irises come in many different colors and if you see my father's house, you'll find many of them. There are 300 different species of Irises, which my father certainly doesn't have the space for, much to my mother's relief.

V-E Day – While the war in Europe officially ended on May 7th in the afternoon, when German General Jodl officially surrendered, Stalin disagreed with Churchill & Truman on how their victory should be announced so it was delayed until 7:40pm when Churchill had enough and announced what everyone already knew anyway by that time. He declared May 8th to be a holiday and people began celebrating and dancing in the streets until a thunderstorm ended the festivities. But they picked back up again first thing in the morning on this day in 1945. They pooled their rationed resources and had street parties all over England. On May 9th, the war effort resumed as we were still fighting Japan.

Time Of Remembrance & Reconciliation For Those Who Lost Their Lives During The Second World War – This day is celebrated today and tomorrow. It was created by the United Nations in 2004 and it urges all United Nations Countries to pay tribute to all the victims of World War II. This is the day chosen for celebration because this is the day that Adolf Hitler's Third Reich officially ended.

Fintastic Friday: Giving Sharks A Voice – Celebrated on the second Friday in May, this is a day to make a difference in the life of a shark. Shark populations are being depleted and we need to do something about it.

Military Spouses Day – This day was originally proclaimed by President Ronald Reagan in 1984 and celebrated on May 23rd. But later, the US Secretary of Defense, Caspar Weinberger made it a yearly holiday and changed the date to the Friday before Mother's Day. This is a day to acknowledge the support and sacrifices made by spouses of the Armed Forces.

National Coconut Cream Pie Day – I'm not a fan of coconut but my husband is so I might have to make one of these for him today. Here’s a recipe you can try.

Provider Appreciation Day – Begun in 1996, and celebrated on the Friday before Mother’s Day, this is a day to appreciate your childcare provider, and anyone else who spends any amount of time taking care of your child.  Working parents, in particular, have reason to be grateful to their childcare providers, but even parents who do not work outside the home have need of childcare help now and then.

To celebrate today, plant some irises with your children while you tell them, in an age appropriate way, about World War II, all the people who fell victim to the evil that happened then, the joy of V-E Day, and the sacrifices of all of the Military spouses.  Then drop your kids off with a childcare provider who knows how much you appreciate him/her, while you sign up to be a student in a nursing class so that you can better appreciate all they need to learn.  When you get home, watch a shark documentary.  No, Jaws does not count.