Memorial Day

This memorial day was one of the best I've had :) My mom and I have been debating about memorial day for years. She is adamant that every grave needs to be beautiful. I think its a waste to decorate a piece of grass with a stone above it that people only see once a year. I would rather buy flowers to remember people and put them in my home. That way every time I walk past the flowers I can think of them. If you put them on the headstone not only do you never see them, and therefore forget about them, but after a day or two the groundskeeper throws them in the garbage.

My mom was out of town this weekend so she called me to decorate the graves for her. I'm pretty sure she did it on purpose. John actually decorated them for me, but I still learned a few things about memorial day. Our neighbors told john they take their kids to visit graves and take the opportunity to teach them about their ancestors. THAT makes sense to me - I wish I knew more about mine. Still, I think its pointless to decorate the place where their body lies because their spirit is no longer there and without their spirit, the body is nothing but dirt.

Instead, I spent the day planting flowers. To me it was the absolute best way to remember my grandparents. I love the generation of my grandmas - they both loved beauty and took the time to make sure they looked beautiful. They also took the time to make sure their surroundings were neatly cared for. I remember helping one of my grandma's plant flowers in her yard- it was A LOT of work, but it always looked so pretty. My mom did the same thing with her yard. I love to plant flowers and I hope my yard always looks as nice as theirs did. And guess what - every time I look at the flowers I will remember my grandmas - all summer long.



(Pictures by Allie :)