When I was a little girl my parents called
this holiday Decoration Day.
This was the original name for Memorial Day.
It was called Decoration Day because
soldiers would decorate the graves of
deceased soldiers with flowers, flags
and wreaths.
The term Memorial Day didn't come into
being until 1880.
(Okay I'm not that old, but my parents were
just a bit stuck in the ways of the old folks
back then. My Grandma, Meme, called it
Decoration Day so of course my parents
did too! )
In 1967, the year I graduated from high
school, the US Government proclaimed
Memorial Day as a National Holiday.
( Who knew? I had no idea!)
My parents faithfully decorated the graves
of all our deceased relatives. They would
take Meme to the cemeteries to "visit" the
graves and place beautiful peonies, iris,
roses, daisies, or whatever was blooming in
their gardens.
This was all conditional on whose turn it
was. You see it was a great honor to be
the one to do the decorating
in my mom's family!
My mother's brother was in WWII
in Normandy and ended his time there
burying the dead in the concentration
camps. He saw his battle buddy be blown
up next to him. He saw death and destruction
everywhere he looked. The war changed him
forever. He knew how precious life was.
He knew the devastation of the Holocaust
first hand.
He took decorating graves VERY seriously
to the point my mom would call him and
tell him exactly what kind of flowers she
would be using when it was her turn!
He would give his approval but perhaps
would add a flower from his garden for
more variety. Or maybe it was to try
and ruffle my mom's feathers!
Flags were another subject.
As you know, Veterans place
little American Flags on the
graves of deceased servicemen
and servicewomen. It's a wonderful
thing that they do this.
My first husband is buried in one
of the main cemeteries my mom's
family is buried in.
One year my husband was skipped
when the flags were placed. My
mom immediately stormed up to
the office and demanded that they
bring a flag out to his grave! And
of course they did!
Flags are also serious business!!
SO... this
have a nice time with your family.
Here's a some things for you to remember
when planning your weekend...
When you have the family over for
that cookout...
put up that cool bunting you've got
stashed in the closet,
make a fabulous centerpiece for
your picnic table,
and fire up the grill.
Did you forget anything??
Happy Decoration Day!
Happy Memorial Day!
Be safe, be blessed -
Marie Antoinette & Edie Marie
XOXO
Post by Edie Marie
Images by Google
Honor to our loved ones who
are no longer with us by Marie & Edie
