Laurels & lances: Honor, celebration and relaxation

Laurel: To giving honor. Across the region, this week began with solemn celebrations remembering the commitment and sacrifice of fallen soldiers.

Memorial Day was commemorated with parades, with services and with a blizzard of red, white and blue decorations at area cemeteries. Even the mothers who lost their soldier children were celebrated.

Were there also barbecues and picnics and some serious lying about in hammocks on what proved to be a hot and summery start to the season? Absolutely. But that doesn’t mean that the purpose of the holiday weekend was lost.

We remember the service. We mourn the loss. We honor the memory.

Laurel: To celebrating a conclusion. School years are coming to an end throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania, and for a number of those students, that means their mandatory years of lunch boxes and No. 2 pencils are also at their close.

Seniors at public, private and parochial schools are donning their caps and gowns and saying goodbye to their childhood via graduation ceremonies and traditions. Some are the ones we all expect, with “Pomp and Circumstance” playing as they walk across a stage and pick up a diploma. Then there are the customs more meaningful to a specific school, like when graduating students visit their elementary schools for a last hurrah and a fond farewell.

But it’s not just the kids who are reaching that milestone. Parents have climbed this mountain with them. So have teachers. Let’s give a big pat on the back to all of the effort and struggle that has gone into getting those stoles and medals on honor students.

And let’s not forget to celebrate the kids who never thought they would make it across that stage but did.

Laurel: To kicking back. It’s been a rough week, with fatal shootings around the country and in Downtown Pittsburgh. We have election recounts and court cases and a hamster wheel of ongoing issues to address. But for right now, let’s just grab some watermelon, some sunscreen, a deck chair and a friend. Let’s take a moment to appreciate the unofficial start of summer.

Take a breath. Go to the pool. Enjoy a local festival. Hit the amusement park — hey, Kennywood brought the Kangaroo back. Just relax. All the problems will still be there when you’re done.