I think one of the reasons I love traditions so much is because when I was growing up, my parents always tried to make traditions a part of my brothers and my life. One of those traditions on Memorial Day was to buy flowers and go to the Marietta National Cemetery and decorate the graves of those who had fallen on our behalf, fighting for our freedoms. As a child I remember always wanting to put my flowers on the grave of an Unknown Soldier. It felt to me that one who lost their life in service of their country, whose name wasn't even known, needed my little gesture of love even more. I am so grateful for that tradition my parents gave me. This year I decided the girls were old enough to understand and were ready for me to pass it on to them. So we piled in the van and drove down to them same cemetery I walked with my family as a girl. Justin and I told the girls to quietly walk among the gravestones and for each of them to choose two graves to place flowers on.
Since Maryn began reading her world has opened up and she is constantly drinking in as much as she can into that thirsty little mind of hers. She walked around reading the gravestones, pondering, wondering much like her Mom and Dad about the lives lived before hers.
Brynna took a moment to remind me not to talk. I had told them this place was special, like church, and that we needed to be reverent.
Like me as a child with the Unknown Soldiers, Maryn and Brynna were drawn to the graves of infants. They felt these little ones whose lives were so short, needed their little tokens of love and so they placed their flowers there.
Brynna would ask us to tell her the stories on the gravestones. Justin told her this man's name and said that he had served in four wars. She thought he definitely needed her flower.
Maryn recognized that this grave said 'Joseph Smith' which is a name that is meaningful to her because she knows that Joseph Smith was a very important prophet. So she wanted to place her flowers there.
And while Lauryn is starting this tradition younger than her sisters, I hope as we go back each year she too will feel the reverence and the pride of being a citizen of this great land. We are so very thankful to those who make our freedoms possible.
4 comments:
this is so sweet! your girls are just the cutest things ever!
I'm so grateful you share your traditions with us. It's inspiring. Rusty was saying to me a few days ago that he would like to start a family memorial day tradition to honor those who gave their lives for our freedoms. I hope to remember yours and share with my family in the future. Thanks again.
What an awesome thing to do. I need to do something similar with my kids. Thanks for inspiring me.
I had alot of wonderful memories go through my mind as I read this blog. I cant believe that this sweet tradition has come full circle, and that you are continuing it with your own children in the same cemetary. I think it is wonderful that you and Justin are helping the girls to value the lives of those who have gone before us. Visiting the graves of soldiers is a sobering experience... my heart is always filled with awe that someone could love their country, and freedoms so much that they are willing to give their all. It's humbling... and I can tell by the look on Maryn & Brynna's faces that they were awed by the sacrifice. This memorial day tradition has life lessons for us all.
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