Decoration Day

We played an event this morning, Art in the Park......even at 11:00am it was very warm,  ok, it was already hot......close to 90 degrees, but we were under the shade of two towering oaks, which made it bearable.

This afternoon, we took flowers to place on my parents' graves and my mom's parents graves.....in the south, it is called "decoration day".   All across the cemetery, there were waves of color.......flowers of every kind and color, real and silk .......and on the Veteran's graves, small American flags waved in the breeze.

When I was a little girl, my dad's mom, Mamie, made paper flowers for her parent's graves.  She made carnations from Kleenex, and roses, iris, daisies, mums and what ever else she could create with crepe paper.......after she crafted the flowers, she dipped  them in  melted paraffin to preserve them.
I loved it when she let me dip the blossoms in the hot wax......honestly, as a child, I thought those handmade flowers were as beautiful as the real ones.  

I think that "decoration day" is a beautiful tradition, a truly special way to honor the dead......but sadly, it is a tradition that will not last much longer.  Most of my nieces and nephews could care less about it.......but maybe as they age and death becomes more real to them, the tradition will become more important to them.  As I think back, in my younger days, it was not that big a deal to me either.
The loss of parents and siblings change many things.

The heat has zapped my energy, time for a cup of hot tea and bed.  Wishing you all a grand Mother's Day tomorrow, may you all feel loved and honored.