Our Memorial Day 2007

Before I get started, I want to thank you for the nice comments on my last post. They mean a lot to me.

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Our Memorial Day was packed with lots of fun things to do so we had to start the day earlier than Lori and I like to start our days. We dragged ourselves out of bed at 8:00, so we could be at the parade before it started at 9:00. First we stopped at the 7-11 for some much needed coffee and then headed over to the paraded where we met up with Margaret and a couple of her friends.

The parade was typical of probably most small-town-American parades. It started with the local high school band and ended with the fire trucks. Here are some of the pictures I took at the parade.



I got a kick out of this next shot. Click on it to see why. LOL



After the parade, there was a ceremony. It started with the Pledge of Allegiance and National Anthem and a lying of a wreath at the foot of the monument. Of course there were also the speeches.



Then it was off to the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) post for a similar ceremony there, less the speeches, and then free food and drinks in their basement club house.



Here's a video Lori made of the ceremony.



They place is really fixed up nice with a regulation sized bar, fully stocked! Every Friday evening is Happy Hour with $2.00 drinks! Woo Hoo! They also have a large screen TV and a pool table. I know where Lori and I will be Friday's starting in June!



They had quite a spread for everyone. There were hot dogs of course, a six-foot hero and a few other goodies to munch on.



This is a table they have reserved as a remembrance of members that have passed away. There is a plaque on the wall listing their names.



While there, I filled out an application to become a member of the VFW, which they approved it on the spot. I'll be sworn in at the next meeting on June 14th and be walking in next years Memorial Day parade and, I'm sure, a few more parades between then and June 14th. The arrow in the picture points to the large screened TV. Click on the pic and look that the TV to see what they promised me if I joined. ;-)



Our day didn't end there! Later that afternoon Lori and I looked at a house to rent in the town just 15 minutes from me. Now she lives about 1 1/2 hours away. We met the landlord at the house and she gave us a tour. She lives there now, so it has all very good appliances and a newly remodeled kitchen. Lori liked it and agreed to take it. The landlord can't move out for a couple of months, which is exactly what Lori wanted. That gives her and her kids plenty of time to go through their stuff and decide what they will move and what they will toss out.

Then it was back to my house for a BBQ! I cooked marinated steak, mushrooms and onions for the steak, broccoli with cheese sauce and made a salad. It was all very good if I do say so myself.

After Lori cleaned up from dinner, we took a walk. The mosquitoes started coming out, so we cut the walk short. We walked 1 mile. Here's the route we took.



When we got home, we said good night to my son and his girl friend. They went to bed early, because a car was picking them up at 5:00 am to take them to the airport. They were flying to the Dominican Republic for and 8-day vacation. Lori is staying here with me while they're gone, so you know what that means? The Nudist Rules Are in Effect This Week!

Memorial Day

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day, but it is more likely that it had many separate beginnings. It is not important who was the very first, what is important is that Memorial Day was established. Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all. Traditional observance of Memorial Day has diminished over the years. Many Americans nowadays have forgotten the meaning and traditions of Memorial Day.

The Flanders poppy has been a part of the Memorial Day ritual since the early 1920s. During the First World War, the red poppies were seen to be among the first living plants that sprouted from the devastation of the battlefields of northern France and Belgium. Soldiers' folklore had it that the poppies were vivid red from having been nurtured in ground drenched with the blood of their comrades. The sight of the poppies on the battlefield at Ypres in 1915 moved Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae to write the poem In Flanders Fields.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

In 1915, inspired by this poem, Moina Michael replied with her own poem:

We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.

Moina Michael then conceived of an idea to wear red poppies on Memorial Day in honor of those who died serving the nation during war. She was the first to wear one, and sold poppies to her friends and co-workers with the money going to benefit servicemen in need.

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Whether you are for or against the wars we are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, please put those feelings aside this weekend and remember that Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. Take a few minutes to reflect on the men and woman that have given their all.

If there is parade near you, please attend and further honor the fallen. And whenever you see someone selling the red poppies, give them a dollar and help a vet! Thank you.