Wednesday, May 31, 2006
RANDOM THOUGHTS......
It’s funny what holidays do to your thinking. Memorial Day has been an important day as long as I can remember. My grandmother Stricklett grew peonies for sale when I was a little girl. People came from all over town to pick their color from the rows upon rows of her flowers. Grandma was a very good business woman out of necessity since she was widowed with children still at home.
When I was young, people took fresh flowers to the cemetery for all occasions, not just Memorial Day. I remember a respectful tone when grandma and my aunts would talk about taking flowers to the gravesites. They would decide which flowers to put on them, knowing the favorite flowers of each person. The best were picked and put in jars of water to keep them fresh as long as possible. Birthdays, anniversaries and Memorial Day were times to make the trek to the cemetery.
They would pull whatever stray grass was around the gravestones and then set the flowers just so. Having done that, they would stand and look at each place, talking about times gone by and things about the relative that came to mind. It was the way they handled the blooms and arranged them that impressed me more than the things they said. It was with obvious love and devotion that ruled their actions.
Here at home there were parades with flags and cemeteries draped in flags. Times have changed since I was a girl. I have buried a husband who was a Veteran, a brother, and lost a dear uncle……all had served on foreign soil. As I go to the cemetery now I place flowers on the graves of my mother, father, brother, late husband and an uncle. We came from Nebraska years ago so our other family is buried there.
I have seen many changes in the years since I first became aware of the true meaning of Memorial Day. The flowers are no longer real but people don’t change that much. Most of us are grateful for the lives we honor….known and unknown. Those flags at the graves were men…….and boys who became men when their country called them to arms. They gave….and some gave all.
Every day I live I am grateful for their sacrifice and the freedom I enjoy. If I could, I would like to let them know they didn’t die in vain. There are a lot of us who aren’t worthy of their sacrifice and I’m sorry for that….the only thing I can do is to be sure I don’t dishonor their gift. They have a loving God who holds them in His arms now and until that day when we will see them again…………….
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
When I was young, people took fresh flowers to the cemetery for all occasions, not just Memorial Day. I remember a respectful tone when grandma and my aunts would talk about taking flowers to the gravesites. They would decide which flowers to put on them, knowing the favorite flowers of each person. The best were picked and put in jars of water to keep them fresh as long as possible. Birthdays, anniversaries and Memorial Day were times to make the trek to the cemetery.
They would pull whatever stray grass was around the gravestones and then set the flowers just so. Having done that, they would stand and look at each place, talking about times gone by and things about the relative that came to mind. It was the way they handled the blooms and arranged them that impressed me more than the things they said. It was with obvious love and devotion that ruled their actions.
Here at home there were parades with flags and cemeteries draped in flags. Times have changed since I was a girl. I have buried a husband who was a Veteran, a brother, and lost a dear uncle……all had served on foreign soil. As I go to the cemetery now I place flowers on the graves of my mother, father, brother, late husband and an uncle. We came from Nebraska years ago so our other family is buried there.
I have seen many changes in the years since I first became aware of the true meaning of Memorial Day. The flowers are no longer real but people don’t change that much. Most of us are grateful for the lives we honor….known and unknown. Those flags at the graves were men…….and boys who became men when their country called them to arms. They gave….and some gave all.
Every day I live I am grateful for their sacrifice and the freedom I enjoy. If I could, I would like to let them know they didn’t die in vain. There are a lot of us who aren’t worthy of their sacrifice and I’m sorry for that….the only thing I can do is to be sure I don’t dishonor their gift. They have a loving God who holds them in His arms now and until that day when we will see them again…………….
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
