Memorial Days

Memorial Day is a special time for our little family.  It was this weekend, three years ago, that we moved to Virginia.  What a huge impact that had on our life.  That first year, we went into the national parade and out to see Arlington Cemetery.  We celebrated veterans and the sacrifices they made to made to keep our land free.

For most of my life, I thought Memorial Day was about your ancestors.  We spent the day visiting the graves of our beloved family members.  In my family, we tell stories.  If any of you knew Grandpa Dave, you would know this, because he was the best storyteller of all.  We would sit around the dinner table and eat a beautiful Sunday meal (because Great Grandpa Hiss said that there would always be plenty of good food on his table after serving in the trenches in WWI) and we would tell stories.  Most of them the people we loved, or the town they'd lived in for generations.  Life just isn't like this anymore.  We all live apart and our lives are not so intertwined. 

Grandma Barbara, Mom L. and me.

This year, we spent Memorial Day in Grantsville, in the traditional family way.  We enjoyed a beautiful meal, we told stories, we visited the graves to honor our dead.  We thought of those who were lost and their time with us.  And in a small way, we honored Grantsville too.  They were having a historic home tour and we got to see some beautiful Victorian style homes (who knew Grantsville had those?).

Visiting a historic home with Grandma Barbara and Aunt Mel

Our lunch, with a rack of ribs outside.

We spent time with our family here and past and I loved it.  My little wild man did too, he ran and played with the cousins so much that he fell right asleep at 6:45.  When has that ever happened?