Memorial Day week-end is usually a busy holiday for me...forget the campgrounds since we all know that the rain and sleet, and whatever else the weather has to offer, has its greatest showing during this time of the year. I can remember countless times of tending a campfire from the opening of my tent while the rain is pouring down. Instead, on this day, I honor my mom's memories by visiting and putting flowers on her site. She passed on in the early 80's and she is missed tremendously. On this day the grounds, where she is laid to rest, are covered with flags to honor our soldiers who have served our country and lost their lives. You can see the flags from afar and the intent of this is felt immediately. This year we are also visiting Jim's dad who passed a couple of years ago. Both sites are about a 30 mile distance a part so we will be doing some driving. I hope we can find enough flowers to put into the vases of both parents.
As I was tending to her grave site I noticed the marker that both Burt and her decided upon.. "together forever hon",they met later in her life. I reminisced on her life and how she has missed so much since her passing on. After my dad and her were divorced, she married twice and the third time seemed to work for her. Burt and her seemed to be a happy couple, he was much older than her but he outlived her by a few decades. They did the trips to Arizona and finally decided to move there. It was there that she discovered that she had cancer. The cancer took her quickly and the treatments left her weak and fragile.
I glanced around me and noticed the other sites and the folks that were tending their parents, and families by honoring them and adding flowers and flags. I thought that at least Burt and my mom weren't alone and had an empty spot with no vase filled with flowers.
The next day, Jim and I went to Willamette National Cemetery with the rest of the family. When we finally found the site where his dad is buried we were amongst the veterans from three different wars.
The Boy Scouts placed several hundred American Flags on all the sites. We thank all those veterans who lost their lives while fighting for our freedom.
We found Jim's dad site and since he served in the US Coast Guard during WW ll. The Scouts also placed the Coast Guard Flag next to the American Flag. It's quite an honor to be remembered every year on Memorial Day, for your service to your country, after you pass on
Hope everyone had a great holiday,
Frans Ponderings
The Fragrance of Spanish Lavender 