Yesterday was Decoration Day, as the oldtimers would call it. That is when we used to visit the family cemeteries to place fresh flowers.(My friend Judy describes it beautifully.)
Today, we call it Memorial Day and use it both to commemorate our fallen soldiers and to celebrate the start of summer barbecues.
Nothing could be further removed from the Twitter generation than visiting old cemeteries or laying wreaths on the graves of our ancestors. Yet, spontaneous memorials spring up on sidewalks after every neighborhood tragedy. Flowers, candles, teddy bears, hand-lettered signs.
In every generation we lean toward these expressions of love. These efforts to hold onto relationships that have been momentarily broken. We do it because eternity has been set in our hearts, as the Bible says. We know, innately, that we were not born to die but to live. That relationships were meant to be eternal.
And, thank God, they can be.
I went with my Mom every year when I was little. I regret that I haven’t taught my kids this tradition.
I expect they will memorialize loved ones in a different way, Carol. Maybe it will be digital.