In the U.S., the on-line encyclopedia, Wikipedia remarks... "Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the Union soldiers who died in the Civil War." Over time, it has come to be a day of commemorating anyone deceased and floral grave markers or United States flags are placed in honor of loved ones.
In Santa Fe, New Mexico where I have spent some time, there skull and crossbones put into artworks of different mediums; paintings and pottery to name a few and seen more as a day of celebration, not necessarily grief or sadness. They, and other cultures call it "Day of the Dead".
It is a time of acknowledging the memory of those who are important to us. When I was in High School, the band used to play at the local cemetery and then we would load onto the school bus and motor up the road to a town that had a swimming pool to initiate the opening of summer! Fried chicken was transported in shoe boxes lined with tin foil and enjoyed at a picnic table.
This weekend, I was with the TN cousin (don't forget Sunny Side Yarns dot com) and her mother who was visiting and that was a great treat. Not only is it always refreshing because we laugh and cook (have you ever had freshly made peach sorbet?? Oooh lah lah, incredible!) but this time, because I got to see how much of her mom is in my friend.
Little do we realize, when we are teens and really don't like our mothers and their rules, the older we get, the smarter they become, and, the more we are like them. One day, we look at the condition of our skin and the effects of gravity, and the things that we speak, and we realize this old saying has a lot of truth:
Mirror, mirror, on the wall, I am my mother after all!
For better or worse, many of us are mothers and we have children that are grown or nearly-grown who are looking up the hill, not down. I plan on being around quite awhile and look forward to seeing my daughter become more of me than she planned on, and will honor those passed as my mother and my aunt does on Memorial Day.
Thank you for your service that keeps our nation free!
The picture, which I have placed a similar one in past blogs, is at the apex of the Clinch Mountains in TN which is just passed the Cumberland Gap, forged by pioneer Daniel Boone.
