Memorial Day

Memorial Day “The hero draws inspiration from the virtue of his ancestors.” Goethe As Memorial Day draws near, I love to connect with those who have gone before me. As I child, I helped my grandmother decorate our family graves each May. First, I would drag the old glass vases and wicker baskets from the top of the garage. She had saved them from past funerals for this specific purpose. We gathered all the flowers from the yard—iris, peonies, snow balls, tulips (if there were any left) and roses (if there were any in bloom). Arranging them in the containers was fun. We organized them one way and then another until the color combinations were just right. When the sprays were ready, we carefully laid them in the trunk of the car with wet dish cloths over the stems to keep them fresh. It was my job to take the wire cutters and snip and bend wire hanger sections to anchor the baskets and vases upright to the ground in case of a strong wind. All that accomplished, we set out for the cemetery. As we walked among the head stones to our family graves, a feeling of reverence for those who lived before me settled into my being. I loved being there—drawing inspiration from those who had gone before. I can’t help but wonder what their existence is like now, knowing that they are close to me and I am close to them. They all had faults—same as me. But they are mine and I am theirs, and I am glad to take a day to honor and remember them. I am a living breathing being because of them, and that thought fills me with gratitude.