Memorial Day-2011

     When I was a child in Illinois, we would get together with my grandmother each Memorial Day and visit all the cemeteries of deceased relatives to put flowers on their graves.  At each grave site, she would explain the relationship to us...at a young age, all I was really concerned with was the picnic of fried chicken, potato salad, chocolate chip cookies and lemonade waiting for us as soon as we got to the park on a bluff above the Mississippi River.
      Now that I am much older and my grandmother is now one of the visited grave sites, I wish I had paid more attention to what she was telling me!!!  I no longer live anywhere near where we would go, but my brother faithfully carries on the tradition, with even more sites to visit.  It is not meant to be a sad time....just a remembering time....but a tradition that I don't think the younger generation will probably carry on with, considering our mobile society.

Our little country cemetery in Illinois

     We visited DC in 2002 for the first time and the daily honoring of the grave of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery is most impressive.

Arlington National Cemetery-Washington, DC

Memorial Day

My tribute to Memorial Day! We watched the PBS concert in Washington DC tonight...well, not all of it because I forgot it was on. It is a terrific show...it has been on for 20 years now and never fails to bring tears to my eyes. One of the last things they play are the military branches' songs and those in the audience from the perspective branches stand and sing along....very moving!! Reminds me of road trips with family when we would sing all the songs...in the days before DVD players!

I love to visit Washington, DC...we have been there twice now and I could go again and again and see things I hadn't seen before....really makes one appreciate being an American!! Our last trip there was when the cherry blossoms were in bloom..what a site!! We also saw the WWII Memorial...so impressive..this pic kind of tells it all.