Every year as Spring comes around and the weather begins to warm up, people begin to look forward to that special day in May. The day that has come to be known as the official start of Summer.  Of course I'm talking about Memorial Day.

Originally started as a day to remember our fallen military personnel it has become a day to remember all of our deceased loved one.  A day to decorate graves with flowers and flags, and simply remember those we have lost. Every year on the last Monday in May people flock to cemeteries to plant and place flower arrangements, to clean away debris and manicure the final resting places of our loved ones. This day also marks the opening of swimming pools, as well as the beginning of picnic and camping season.

Now that the Zombies have invaded, and our lives as we know them are over, will we still celebrate this day, and if so how? As Americans, we are always looking for ways to justify throwing a party, or enjoying ourselves. We crave social interaction, and let’s face it we all enjoy a good party. So any chance that we get, whether it be before or after a Zombie Apocalypse, we will find a reason to let our hair down and go wild.  So that bodes well for us continuing the Memorial Day tradition.  I believe it will happen. If nothing else our country holds onto it’s traditions.

Granted things will be a little different.  We will have to make adjustments to how we celebrate Memorial Day in the interest of our  own safety. We will also have to deal with the fact that our beloved dead no longer sleep peacefully in the ground, but rather walk the Earth like crazed maniacs looking  to devour our flesh  the first chance they get. While this may make it difficult to honor them, we will find a way to ensure they are never forgotten. The following are a few my thoughts on how we can accomplish that.

Firstly we should still take the time to honor our fallen servicemen and women. Every group of Survivors should attempt to start their Memorial Day with a rendition of Taps. If you can't play a bugle then make do with what you have or come up with some other alternative. Everyone can hum a tune.

Flags either real or make shift should still be flown to show our support for those who died believing in the ideals those flags stood for. Visiting graveyards to clean and manicure them is no longer necessary and has become quite dangerous as well, so it is probably best to leave that off the list. If the ammunition is plentiful then do a twenty-one gun salute instead. If ammunition is sparse they why not try making paper lanterns and letting them go on Memorial Day with the names of our deceased loved ones on them. They can float out and away giving the sense of seeing our heroes move on to a better place.

If your loved ones have joined the Walking Dead, and you've  not had the balls to kill them before, what better way to show you care, then to severe the spinal cord of those you loved. Allow them the chance to finally rest in peace or pieces as the case may be. If you've already taken care of your Zombified loved ones, and they are finally at rest, try finding look-a-likes, so that you can relive the moment you have your loved ones eternal bliss. It will give you the same sense of accomplishment, and you will be eliminating one more Zombie one Memorial Day at a time.

Once you've remembered or dealt with the fallen, it's time to celebrate. What better day to enjoy a nice barbeque on or take in some swimming? These things you can still do if you use your brain and some caution. You can set up a BBQ in any fortified location and they are easy enough to make. Just grab some bricks construct a grill/oven of sorts. You could also remove the oven racks from an abandoned oven, or even an old shopping cart. Once your grill is built, you can use it over and over again to cook meals more conveniently than over an open flame.

Keeping a sense of normalcy is important to your Survival, so once you have a place that is relatively safe from the Undead, you could try to loot a swimming pool from the local Wal-Mart. Another alternative is to line the bed of a Pick Up truck with some plastic and fill that up with water. While there may not be warm running water, I'm sure you could find a well, so you should have at least cold running water that you could fill a pool up for the youngsters and even adults to enjoy.

Remember Memorial Day also marks the beginning of  the Summer months so spend your time wisely and do what you need to survive. As the temperature rises  the smell of the rotting living dead may become unbearable. The upside is that you should be able to smell a Walker long before you actually see it. So you see it's both a blessing and a curse as you try to continue your new way of life.

Clearing out the undead one zombie at a time will eventually help you get back to a time when you won't have to always be looking over your shoulder.  So if that isn't cause to celebrate then what is? Never forget that in order to remember the fallen on Memorial Day you have to survive. So honor your dead by living on so that they are never forgotten.

Remember you heard it here first, now...SURVIVE THIS!