Memorial Day

I thought Memorial Day was a vacationing holiday until I moved to Utah. Having never lived around family much less buried family members I had rarely visited a graveyard during my childhood. When I did it was usually treated as a beautiful park to walk through, as were golf courses. And the reason I thought it was a vacationing holiday was because my Dad was so adamant about NOT going anywhere on Memorial Day. Memorial Day and Labor Day were, according to him, the most traveled holidays of the year which in his opinion equaled most car accident holidays of the whole year. Cars on the road always equaled a car accident waiting to happen. We didn't travel on busy holidays on account of the possibility of a car accident.

When I moved to Utah and was around for my first Memorial Day I was shocked at the number of people at the cemeteries. By this time I knew it was a time to remember people who had passed on but I thought it was for people who had served in the military. When we drove by a cemetery on Memorial Day and I saw the roads inside and out choked with cars and people everywhere I was surprised. But I learned that Memorial Day is for remembering anyone who has passed on and left us all behind.

This was our first Memorial Day. We are lucky to live in a small town where they spend the extra money on lawn care in order to allow people to do almost anything they want in the cemetery for their loved ones. This weekend we went and bought some things to decorate Calvin's grave; flower basket, bird feeder, and wind chime. On Sunday Baby wrote Calvin a sweet note to put on his grave.
Sunday evening we went down to the cemetery to set things up. Baby taped his note to Calvin's plaque. We should be getting a headstone in the next month or two.
Then Olaf pounded the shepherds hook into the hard ground while Middle Child held it in place. We put it between Olaf's Dad's and Calvin's spots. We figured they can share it.
Then we hung the things we bought and Olaf wrapped them with lots of wire in hopes of not losing things to the wind or teenagers.

Olaf's Mom brought down a gorgeous arrangement of Red, White, and Blue flowers earlier this week. And I don't know where the orange flowers came from. My Easter decorations are still up, lilies and Easter eggs since he couldn't join in the hunt this year.
We went back down Monday evening. Olaf had put up some flags. And throughout the day several of Calvin's friends dropped things off. My neighbor told me that while at the store her son (Baby's age) was specifically looking for flowers for Calvin's grave. He kept looking for a bunch of flowers with a ribbon that said "Friend". He misses Calvin too.
As Olaf was driving away after putting the flags away (there is a US flag, Troop flag, and another homemade troop flag (I made that one) he saw a cute girl hop out of a car and put a rose down by Calvin. Several of our neighbors told us they saw cute girls bringing things to Calvin's grave throughout the day.
The charm in the flower says "I Love You." So sweet of all his friends.
Another good friend of Calvin's brought down some flowers with a nice note. It says "Friends Forever." I hope so.
It amazes me that the kids still remember him and talk about him. I never had someone close to me die when I was younger and I didn't know what to expect of his friends. I'm glad they still remember him. I know some of his friends have made a few changes in their lives because they have seen how fragile life is, not something many teenagers experience. I know he was a teenager and far from perfect, but he was still such a good kid and so likeable. I decided I'd come down before they clean everything up and plant the flowers that his friends had left. Since we can't plant them there I'll bring them home and plant them where I can see them and be reminded of Calvin and his great friends. I'm thankful for the awesome friends he made in 7th and 8th grade. Knowing he had a bunch of good friends makes me feel better.