Labor Day is coming up this Monday. I realized as I was writing this that I knew what we celebrated but not necessarily the whole story behind why we celebrate it.

For most of us (obviously not agents who never have a day off), Labor Day means a three-day weekend, the unofficial end of summer and, according to old-school fashion rules, the last weekend to wear white. I actually don’t subscribe to this fashion rule. We live in California, where I’ve decided it doesn’t apply.

But Labor Day actually has a pretty important history. The first Labor Day celebration took place in New York City in 1882, during a time when working conditions in America looked very different than they do today. Many people worked grueling 12-hour days, seven days a week. There were little to no protections for workers, child labor was rampant, and paid vacations, sick days and weekends certainly weren’t the norm.

As the labor movement grew, workers began organizing and advocating for better hours, safer working conditions and fair wages. In 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed legislation making Labor Day a federal holiday – a day set aside to recognize the contributions American workers had made to the strength, prosperity and well-being of our country.

What we enjoy today was built by people who worked incredibly hard before us, endured hardship and unfair conditions, and created change. These people built our roads, homes, schools and businesses and worked in factories, farms, offices and countless other jobs that helped build this country and keep it moving forward.

We spend an enormous amount of our lives working. And while we certainly work to earn a living, the best work comes when we feel we are doing something worthy. It’s about contributing. Creating. Solving problems. Helping people. Building something that wasn’t there before. Hopefully leaving something a little better than we found it. This is exactly what we do in real estate.

We help people through some of the biggest financial and emotional decisions of their lives. We help people move forward, sometimes literally.

So this Labor Day, enjoy the long weekend if you can, have a barbecue and maybe even wear white.

But also take a moment to appreciate the generations of hardworking people who came before us – and maybe think about the contribution you are making through the work you do today. You get to help people find home.

Happy Labor Day. And here’s to work worth doing.