Memorial Day customs | WEGGIEBOY'S BLOG by Doug Thomas

Thanks to cool, rainy weather the past few days, the potted flowers I put out for Memorial Day survived nicely.
Today, though, it was time to bring them home. After a few days, the city removes flowers and decorations not retrieved by family and friends, so I always err on the side of “too soon”.

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They have, after all, served their purpose on the holiday, and now it’s time to serve a happier, more decorative purpose on my front steps.

My camera battery “died” after the first two floral portraits. A third flower will have to wait to be photographed. This is how I let my brother and sisters know I took care of Memorial Day here.

A cousin who usually decorates two of the same graves I do (her father and our paternal grandmother; my parents) didn’t make it up to Alliance this year for whatever reason. I’ll call her because it is very unusual for her to miss Memorial Day. She publishes a major issue of her newspaper this time of year — I just got it in the mail the other day — and I am concerned she may have worked herself into a bad cold or something. This special edition always takes a lot out of her, so I am concerned she missed the holiday here.

I know she will feel better knowing those two graves were tended to, so this is how I will let her know, too. I pray she is OK.

I picked up the geraniums from the cemetery this morning. They’d survived well, even though we had some heavy rain during the time they were out. In fact, they looked great, and now greet people who come to my front door.

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The holiday was a quiet meditation for me. I didn’t even break out so much as a hotdog or a flag to proclaim some patriotic American ideal. Many people died in the belief what they did for their country was noble and promoted something good. Good enough. Let’s not spoil it with irony.