National Reconciliation Day is a holiday observed annually on April 2nd that urges people to take a few moments to consider the human connections they might have lost over the years. All of us have experienced the loss of a close relationship—not due to death, but because those fragile bonds that connect two people together have weakened and eventually broken.

Although we can’t repair the relationships of those who have died, we can reconcile with people who were once important to us but are no longer in our lives for one reason or another. It’s this holiday that encourages people to repair those bonds before it’s too late to do anything about them.

The History of National Reconciliation Day

It’s believed that Ann Landers invented this holiday in 1989 when she encouraged a reader who wrote to her to repair a lost relationship. It has been observed ever since and has only grown in popularity over the years as more people look to repair lost bonds with people they once loved.

Observing National Reconciliation Day

On this day, people are encouraged to repair a relationship that they’ve lost. This lost relationship can be due to distance, a misunderstanding, or because of words said in anger. The reason for the lost relationship isn’t what’s important, however.

What’s important is to repair those human connections before it’s too late. People can also use the hashtag #NationalReconciliationDay on their social media accounts to spread the word about this holiday or to reconnect with a person they haven’t talked with for a while.