On Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, the Central Labor Union held their first demonstration and picnic. The third year, the date was set for the first Monday in September. As labor organizations spread, so did the idea. By 1894, 23 states had adopted holidays to celebrate the working man and Congress passed an act declaring the first Monday in September a national, legal holiday.
We celebrated yesterday, since that meant we could have friends over for a cookout, board games & videogames, music jam and general hanging out as long as people wanted to stay and not worry about having the kids get to bed at a decent hour for school the next day.
We also tossed in a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake to celebrate DH’s birthday a bit early since he’s going to be out of town on the big day, again. It was unusally hot here during the day, but the evening cooled off enough for a few pleasant games on the patio until a humongous spider decided to crash the party.
I didn’t get to sit down and write anything until 11 pm, and I wrote a very short journal entry because I couldn’t keep my mind focused long enough to get anything down. The important thing was I still did it. I’m getting more comfortable telling people that I’m writing. Not running out and shouting it from the rooftops, but I’m finding it coming up naturally in conversation more and more.
If you haven’t celebrated yet this weekend, enjoy! If you’re stuck working this weekend, thanks for all you do!