March Moments-2024

February, the shortest month of the year, is followed by March, one of the longest at 31 days. This year February had some other interesting twists as far as special days, and so does March.

Sunday Specials

There are five Sundays in March this year, and four of them have special significance.

Daylight Saving Time

Depending on where you live, you may need to remember to spring forward into Daylight Saving Time

Most of the United States will change to Daylight Saving Time on Sunday, March 1o, 2024 by setting your clock one hour ahead unless your device changes automatically. If you have to awaken at a specified time, you will “lose” an hour of sleep unless you go to sleep an hour earlier.

Your body will tell the difference until your sleep cycle adjusts; I know mine always does.  WebMD offers these tips to make the change easier.

St. Patrick’s Day

Of course, you know that March 17 is St. Patrick’s Day, and in 2024 it also falls on a Sunday.

In Chicago, Illinois, they dye the river green to celebrate (photo by my son Ryan when he lived in Chicago).

Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday, a special day in the Christian faith, always falls on a Sunday, but not always in March. Next year it will be in April. The earliest date that Palm Sunday can fall is March 15 (when Easter Sunday falls on March 22); the latest date is April 18 (when Easter Sunday falls on April 25).

Easter

Like Palm Sunday, Easter moves between March and April.

Easter along with Christmas are the most observed Christian holy days for Christians, although they also are celebrated as secular holidays by many people. Easter marks the Resurrection of Jesus three days after his death by crucifixion on Good Friday. For many Christian churches, Easter is the joyful end to the Lenten season of fasting and penitence.

Also happening in March

Welcome Spring

We will welcome the first day of Spring, Tuesday, March 19,  in the northern hemisphere, with the occurrence of the vernal equinox. In the southern half of the globe, people will enter autumn.

 

Residents’ Match Day

It’s the day graduating medical students find out what residency program they will join through the National Resident Matching Program, which “matches” them with available positions in residencies all over the United States.

Why should you care? This matching process determines who will care for our medical needs in the next 30-40 years; our family physicians, internists, pediatricians, general surgeons, obstetricians, dermatologists, psychiatrists, and a multitude of other medical specialties. Most doctors will continue in the same specialty their entire career, although some switch after a few or many years.

National Doctor’s Day

March 30 has been designated National Doctor’s Day in the United States. You may not have heard of a day to honor doctors.

The first Doctors’ Day observance was March 30, 1933, in Winder, Georgia. The idea came from a doctor’s wife, Eudora Brown Almond,  and the date was the anniversary of the first use of general anesthetic in surgery(although several other dates also claim that distinction.)

The Barrow County (Georgia) Medical Society Auxiliary proclaimed the day “Doctors’ Day,” which was celebrated by mailing cards to physicians and their wives and by placing flowers on the graves of deceased doctors.

In 1990, the U.S. Congress established a National Doctors’ Day first celebrated on March 30, 1991.

Of course, the most important physician for you to honor is your own personal physician.

 

Vietnam War Veterans Day

In my home, we observe not only Doctor’s Day, for me, but also Vietnam War Veterans Day, because my husband is one.

 Vietnam War Veterans Day commemorates the sacrifices of Vietnam veterans and their families, part of a national effort to recognize the men and women who didn’t receive a proper welcome upon returning home more than 40 years ago.

The Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act, signed into law in 2017, designates March 29 of each year as National Vietnam War Veterans Day.

On that day in 1973, the last combat troops were withdrawn from Vietnam and the last prisoners of war held in North Vietnam arrived on American soil. It is also the date President Nixon chose for the first Vietnam Veterans Day in 1974.

Read about an actual event in the Vietnam War, written by my husband Raymond Oglesby.

Battle for Tra Bong Vietnam: Events and Aftermath Kindle Edition

Read it free with Kindle Unlimited or pay $2.99 (this is an affiliate link)

Good Friday

And in 2024, Vietnam War Veterans Day coincides with Good Friday, another Christian holy day. Good Friday is the day in which Protestant and Catholic Christian churches commemorate the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ. Good Friday is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, and Black Friday.

 

exploring the HEART of health in the spring

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