Memorial Day

Growing up Memorial Day was full of tradition.  School was out so we could finally wear shorts!  Woot!  Saturday before was the family reunion at the cabin.  The reunion was always fun, but just as much I enjoyed seeing how much it meant to Grandma and Grandpa.  Little squares of construction paper color coded to which brother/sister you descended from and your name, and if you didn't have one you were promptly hunted down.  The sign in register, carefully disguised poster paper where you sign in -- again under which brother/sister you descended from.

Cousins I typically only saw once/year, but you'd never know it -- now I only see them at funerals.  Seeing Grandpa have to prove "one more time" that he could still climb the rope up to the log holding the swing cut from an old tire.  I don't know how many years he promised Grandma that he wouldn't do it again.  We always walked to the Big Tree {it really is a BIG tree} and took rides in the best.swing.ever.




See?  Best swing ever!



Not always, but often enough for me to remember Grandpa would at least want to give rides in the Model T.



I remember Grandma picking flowers out of her garden to put on graves, mason jars full of lilac blossoms {our lilacs are through blooming, what's up with that?} and whatever happened to be tall enough and blooming.  Her house would smell of lilacs for awhile afterwards, somehow she always had a few 'extra' lilacs that made it onto her kitchen table.  Everytime I smell lilacs I think of Grandma.

What did we do this weekend?  Charlet got to go to Colorado for a graduation but Kaede and I stayed home all weekend and worked.  At work, in the garden, on the house, on the 5 year plan to get rid of the purple thistles in the backyard {really, I think we're on year 7 of the 5 year plan}  One of my favorite weekends full of memories and tradition has flittered away into nothing for my kids.

Going through years of pictures to find this has me feeling a bit sad and as late as it is I'm going to head to bed for some reading and contemplating.

~Heather