June wasn't just LGBTQ+ Pride Month. There were a few other whole month celebrations going on. Some are internationally recognized, but others are country specific:
- African-American Music Appreciation Month
- ALS Awareness Month (Canada)
- Alzheimer's & Brain Awareness Month (USA)
- LGBT Pride Month
- National Safety Month
- National Smile Month (United Kingdom, May and June)
Tomorrow begins every child's favorite month long celebration (if they know about it) National Ice Cream Month. I probably won't be celebrating - mostly because I can't eat ice cream - but it sounds like a great month for children on summer holiday.
However, don't just have month long celebrations. There are a few days set aside to celebrate any number of reasons.
Most of us in the United States are familiar with the bank holidays (days where people with 9-5 jobs get a day off and schools and banks are closed). Days such as Memorial Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents Day, Labor Day, and Veterans Day. The next big one is coming up this week: Independence Day!
Then there are the religious and/or cultural holidays we learn through society, such as Christmas, Eid al-Fitr, Hanukkah, Halloween (Samhain), and Easter. We might not get a day off of school (with the exception of Christmas) or celebrate all of them, but most people in the United States at least know about them.
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| By the way National Grinch Day (Grinch-mass) is December 1st |
And of course there are the religious / memorial days which have been absorbed and slightly altered by our culture. These would be the Valentine's Days (a saint's day that's turned into a day all about love), St. Patrick's Days (another saint's day that's become a reason to celebrate the Irish heritage in America), and Cinco De Mayo (this isn't Mexican Independence Day, but it has been embraced as a day to celebrate Mexican heritage in America - when not stereotyped by drunk white people).
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| The Wiccan / Witch holiday of the Autumn Equinox |
Then there are the just plain holidays for the sake of celebration.
For example, while I was celebrating the summer solstice last weekend, my friend wished me a Happy National Onion Ring Day and Global Smurfs Day (I refuse to open the can of worms as to how people celebrate that one). Today happens to be International Asteroid Day and World Social Media Day (why? just why?). Again I don't plan on celebrating either of these events, but it is interesting and occasionally fun to know.
My personal favorites of these types of celebratory days are Talk Like a Pirate Day (Sep 19th), Star Wars Day (also known as May the 4th), Star Trek Day (Sep 8th), and Pi Day (March 14th). Pi Day in particular holds a special place in my heart because my math classes used to have huge parties with lots of different pie to eat.
Pretty much if you can think of something to celebrate, there's likely already a day or month dedicated to it. When I was a kid, I was jealous that there was a Mother's Day and a Father's Day, but no Kids Day. There actually is. It's June 19th. The holiday just hasn't been embraced yet by those of us in the United States.
More recently International Women's Day has been making waves. However, according to my European friends, it's actually celebrated in Europe rather than just acknowledged as a day. Women are often given flowers (or flower crowns...I'm not actually clear) in her home country of Hungry.
This, of course, prompted people to start asking why there wasn't an International Men's Day. Except that there is. If these people had done a quick Google search instead of griping about it on social media, they would know that it's November 19th.
But let's be real, they didn't care about International Men's Day until International Women's Day became "a thing".
So the next time you want a reason to celebrate something, check out what holidays are going on that day. There are several websites dedicating keeping up with this information including: nationaltoday.com/ and checkiday.com.
And if you run into someone complaining about how someone has an entire month to celebrate something, but the veterans only have one day. Feel free to let them know that if they actually cared about veterans, they'd know that May is National Military Appreciation Month - which includes celebrating veterans.
Happy End of Pride Month my friends!
If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.
See you guys in two weeks.
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