Guess what I got to do yesterday!!! Give up? I got to help my parents, The Farmer and The Farmer's Wife, place American flags on the graves of service men and women buried in the little nearby cemetery in celebration of Memorial Day. It was truly an honor. American flags were pushed into the ground next to the barely legible stones of Civil War and Spanish-American War soldiers and the fancier, more durable stones of WW I, WW II, Korean War, Vietnam War soldiers. I'm not sure if there were soldiers of more recent wars, but let's assume there were. We said their names aloud as we looked for their graves. Some of those names probably haven't been uttered for decades. It is humbling to think that these people from my neck of the woods were willing to sacrifice their lives for my freedom. How awesome that I am one of many who have honored these soldiers over the years by decorating their graves with a little cloth American flag.
The little cemetery is situated next to a creek on hilly terrain. Many of the stones lean and together look like crooked teeth. It's endearing. Although along a major highway, it's surprisingly peaceful. There's an odd sense of continuity when one walks beside the graves of ancestors and neighbors' ancestors and loved ones and friends. It's a sense of being tied to the past with an invisible thread -- that same thread going on ahead to tie the future to the past.
The older gentleman who up to this year did this task wrote down all the soldiers' names in an order that I'm sure makes since to him. Even so, we were all over each section of that cemetery looking and searching and calling out names. We saw some super-cool first names on the stones like Archimedes, Achilles, Missouri, India, Valentine, Wellington, Delight, Lunis. Are today's baby names as creative? Maybe in some communities.
It took us nearly 3 hours to put out the flags and I was WORN OUT by the time I got home. I went to bed a little earlier than usual with a full feeling of patriotism. God bless America!!!
Have a great Memorial Day weekend!!!
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