Generations

Every since I married into the Pack family, Memorial Day has meant a day of visiting graves, a day of cleaning up headstones and decorating with flowers and a day of visiting with family. After a few years of complaining and whining for a good part of the day it is now something I look forward to every year.

I love the whole concept of extended families and the chance we get to see each generation grow and move on to each new stage in life.  I remember family reunions when I was little and how I thought my great aunts were just the most amazing people around.  Over years of sporadic reunion attendance, I watched those aunts get older and a bit slower but through it all still amazing.  That generation is all gone now and the next one is heading into the "elderly" phase of life.  I know that someday it will be me with the arthritic fingers, faulty memory and more age spots than skin.  But, having watched previous generations go mostly gracefully down that path, I'm not overly worried about it.

Each of these people leave behind a spot in a cemetery but that is just a starting point for lots of stories and memories.  Every time we visit one of these graves, the stories are shared and of course embellished by the descendants.  Written history is a wonderful thing but nothing beats the story as related every year by Uncle so and so.

So, I guess at this stage in my life, my job is to make sure there are some good stories worthy of embellishment for my children and grandchildren to pass on.  I hope to be able to sit in on some of those graveside story times in the distant future.  Or hover above, whatever it is spirits do.