In this week of MEMORIALS, I couldn't really skip over the most important memorials of all, and those would be the personal memorials we create ourselves.
For as long as I can remember, my family has had a Memorial Day Weekend tradition. I call it "Making the Rounds."
I began with my father (now, my brothers) packing the car with a large bucket, a knife, a trimmer, a scrub brush, paper towels, a small broom, a five-gallon can of water and multiple floral arrangements. This had to be done on Friday, or EARLY Saturday morning, so the graves would look nice for the weekend visitors. ALWAYS.
After the car was packed, we would all jump in and head to the first of three cemeteries. We trimmed around each family member's headstone, swept away any grass, scrubbed off any bird doodoo, and anchored the corresponding floral arrangement with wire hangers that had been cut to precisely the right length.
We would admire our work, visit with the distant family members we only ever ran into at the cemetery on Memorial Day, and then jump in the car to make our way to the next cemetery. When I married, we added another cemetery. And after all these years, we've added three cemeteries in Utah where we have loved ones laid to rest.
After we finished the rounds, my mother would ALWAYS insist on stopping at Dairy Queen, where we would ALWAYS order Peanut Buster Parfaits.
I was in 7th grade when I realized this was not a standard Memorial Day celebration for everyone else on the planet.
This tradition continued. And now we gussy up Mom and Dad's graves just like they taught us to do.
Guess what's happening today, or tomorrow morning in Idaho? My three siblings are Making the Rounds. I won't be with them this year, but I will be there in spirit, and maybe over the phone. This year, my husband and I will Make the Rounds for our loved ones in Utah, and hope our other loved ones will know we're thinking about them, too. We might need to stop at DQ, so Mom knows I didn't forget.
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