Those Who Served

Memorial Day, is a day dedicated to remembering the sacrifices of those who served our military and for our country.  In our family it has been a tradition to visit the graves of our family members who have died and cleaning the grave site and leaving fresh flowers.

I remember doing this as a child, continuing as a parent with my children, and now as one left behind. 

 

Veterans families who have buried family members in Greenwood Cemetery can donate their service flags.  They are then flown on Memorial day and Veteran's Day.

Both my Step Father and my Uncle have flags that are flown here, so it is part of our visit.

Honoring your service
     with flowers and Love

Last summer while visiting New York, we stumbled upon Waterloo, New York which is considered the birthplace of Memorial Day.  The town of Waterloo in 1866 set aside the a day to honor the war dead from the civil war.  In 1873, New York became the first state to proclaim Memorial Day or Decoration Day as it was originally called as a holiday.

In May 1966, a joint resolution by the United States Congress and a proclamation by President Lyndon B. Johnson officially recognized Waterloo, New York as the birthplace of Memorial Day.

Memorial Day is a day we visit the graves of family members and  remember the impact of those lives on our own.  It is a time of story telling and peaking into the past through memories and stories shared in our time together on this day each year.

At the country cemetery in Spangle Washington

 In addition to visiting three different cemeteries in three days, we visit the small town of Spangle, the site of many of our families homesteads in the late 1800's.  These sites come alive in my Auntie's memories and she relishes sharing them again and visiting places of her childhood.

We visit the decaying farmhouse where Auntie was born and my mother and she shared many memories.  They lived in a number of places in Spangle but the Sadie Heaton place was the one they most talked about.  This was my first visit here though I had seen pictures and heard stories about the place.

The place is crumbling and it's days standing upright are numbered.  It lives on in Auntie's memories and the pictures of long ago. 

We spend some time taking pictures duplicating pictures from her memory.

 I am the stand-in for my Mom who was a small child when they lived here.

For some people Memorial Day is a time of barbecues or campouts that herald the beginning of summer.  For me it will be a time to honor the service of family members who served in the military and to remember the family members no longer with me and reflect on their lives and the impact each one has had on the fabric of my life.