Labor Day, Then and Now
For as long as I can remember, Labor Day has marked some sort of transition.
Labor Day Has Always Meant Something Different to Me
Growing up in Minnesota, Labor Day was the unofficial end of summer. Not just because the calendar told us summer was winding down, but because, for most of my childhood and through high school, it literally meant the day before school started.
I never started school on a Monday. Elementary school, middle school, high school. The first day was always the day after Labor Day.
So Labor Day was the final day.
The final day of summer break.
The final day before a new school year.
The final day to squeeze in one more bit of fun before everything changed again.
And for my family, that usually meant one thing:
The Minnesota State Fair.
Going to the State Fair on Labor Day became a tradition. It was something I could count on, something that made the day feel special, and something that, looking back, probably made the transition into a new school year feel a little easier.
Sometimes I was ready for school. Other times, maybe not so much.
And the State Fair was never just about one thing. We could easily spend 12 or more hours there, taking in as much as we possibly could:
- The food
- The walking
- The entertainment
- The shopping
- The rides
- The animals and exhibits
- Seeing what had changed from one year to the next
- Finding something new to explore
- And all of the little moments that made the day feel like our State Fair tradition
There was always something else to see or something else to do.
Labor Day was an ending, but it was also the beginning of something new.
College Changed the Tradition a Little
That feeling changed a little when I got to college.
Of course, I was already moved in to wherever I was going to be living by late August, if not sooner, for the summers that I stayed and lived on campus.
I do not remember each year perfectly, but I do remember going to class on Labor Day a few times during college.
It always felt a little strange knowing that other schools were closed while we were still expected to show up and go to class.
College brought new traditions, new friends and a lot more independence. The State Fair was still part of my Labor Day memories, but things were changing.
And I think that was probably one of the first times I started to realize that traditions do not necessarily stay the same forever.
Then Life Changed Again
After I graduated from college, I did not immediately resume going back to the fair every year.
There was one year when I did not go to the State Fair at all. Looking back at that time, I know I was incredibly stressed at my job, exhausted and still trying to figure out where I fit into the working world and what I actually wanted to be doing.
Looking back, it feels significant that I skipped something that had been such a consistent part of my Labor Day for so many years.
Then came 2014.
I went to the State Fair that year knowing it would be my last one for a while because I was about to pick up my life and move from Minnesota to Florida.
I obviously did not know exactly what the next chapter would look like.
I just knew it was going to be different.
And it was.
Finding My Way Back to the Fair
Since moving to Florida, I have only been back to the State Fair once, in 2022.
That year was different for reasons I never could have planned.
My grandma passed away near the beginning of the State Fair, and I stayed in Minnesota to help my family afterward. Because of that, I got to spend Labor Day 2022 with my family at the Minnesota State Fair.
After so many years of being away and experiencing the fair through memories, photos and stories, actually being there again felt incredibly special.
It is a Labor Day I will never forget.
And it also made me realize just how much the State Fair had continued to exist in my life, even when I was no longer physically there.
The State Fair exists in my life now through memories.
Through:
- Old photos
- Pictures that my family shares with me
- Phone calls that are live from the Great Minnesota Get-Together
- Stories
- Seeing posts from customers who are there
- And, probably my favorite, the State Fair packages my family has sent me over the years
Those packages have always felt like such a sweet little reminder that even though I moved away, I am still connected to those traditions and those memories.
Labor Day Has Changed, Too
Since moving to Florida, I have come to think of Labor Day less as the end of summer and more as a day to slow down and do things for myself.
It has become a day to:
- Catch up
- Work on things around the house
- Take care of things I have been putting off
- Work on projects
- Or just appreciate where I am in life
But this year feels different.
Even compared to ten years ago, it feels different.
And I know that is partly because I am different.
Ten years is a long time.
A lot can happen in ten years.
There are chapters that close, new ones that begin, things you thought would happen that do not, and things you never expected that do.
I can remember pieces of what I was doing around Labor Day last year and where I was in life. That thought has made me reflect a little bit on the past year.
There are things I wish I had done differently.
Things I wish I had handled differently.
Things across different areas of my life where, knowing what I know now, I probably would have made a different choice.
But I also know that is part of growing up.
I will never have it all figured out.
That is life: being able to adapt, learn from what life brings and keep moving forward.
Every year gives us another opportunity to:
- Learn something
- Understand ourselves a little better
- Figure out what matters
- Try again
- Do better
- Be better
So maybe that is what Labor Day represents for me now.
Not just the end of summer.
Not just a day off.
Not just memories of going to the Minnesota State Fair with my family before another school year, even though school start dates and schedules have changed significantly over the years.
It is a checkpoint.
A chance to look at where I have been, where I am now and where I might want to go next.
The Checkpoint Feels a Little Different This Year
And honestly, this year, that checkpoint feels a little uncomfortable.
Because there is a part of me that almost feels like I should not be taking the day off.
I know that probably sounds strange.
I know I could pull up the numbers and look at a lot of data surrounding different parts of my life. I could look at everything I have done over the past year. I could make lists of:
- Projects completed
- Things created
- Work accomplished
- Goals worked toward
- All of the other evidence that says, yes, you have actually done things
And yet, sometimes knowing the facts does not necessarily change how something feels.
This year, Labor Day has made me think a lot about work.
About what I have accomplished.
About what I thought I would accomplish.
About where I thought I would be by now.
And about the difference between doing a lot and feeling like you have done enough.
Maybe that is the irony of Labor Day for me this year.
Looking Ahead
For so much of my life, this day represented the end of something and the excitement of whatever came next.
A new school year.
A new semester.
A new job.
A new chapter.
Today, I am sitting with a little more uncertainty.
But I am also trying to remember that uncertainty does not mean nothing is happening.
To be honest, I always have something fun or exciting that I am working on in the background. Most of the time, it is multiple things.
And for that alone, I am so grateful.
Working on things I enjoy, being part of things that matter to me and continuing to find things that make me excited to get up and do something are important.
Sometimes the transition is happening even when you cannot quite see what comes next.
So today, I am going to let Labor Day be what it has always been in some way:
A chance to remember where I have been.
A chance to appreciate the traditions and people that have stayed with me, even from hundreds of miles away.
A chance to acknowledge the things I wish I had done differently without letting them define the past year.
And maybe, most importantly, a chance to recognize that I am still becoming the person I am supposed to be.
Just like I did when Labor Day meant one last trip to the State Fair before a new school year began.
Only now, I do not know exactly what the first day of the next chapter is going to look like.
And that is okay.
Leave a Reply