Saturday, May 07, 2005
Beautiful Saturday
Don’t tell anyone, but I think summer may finally be here. Today is a beautiful day in north Alabama. Unfortunately I must get dressed and go do some last minute shopping. I have tried and tried to get out of that club I am in PA but I keep getting elected president. (Procrastinator’s Anonymous).
Tomorrow is Decoration at my Mom’s church. I bet some of you don’t know what Decoration is… do you? It is that day in the spring set aside for certain cemeteries to allow people to bring unlimited flowers to place on the graves of their loved ones. In most places there is also a singing and dinner on the ground. Relatives drive for miles and miles to be here for “decoration”. Strange concept? I think so too. I know it is very important to my mother and to others in her generation. I know that think they are paying a special tribute to their loved ones who have passed on from this life. See, my problem is I don’t really relate the cemetery to these people. My memories and my tribute to them is paid by remembering their lives and how I live my life. I am afraid (and I use that word loosely) that this is a southern tradition that will soon pass away. Today we have video recordings and other media to preserve realistic memories of our loved ones past. We don’t have to walk among the headstones to feel like a part of them is still with us.
Anyway, just another tradition; not a bad one, one that met the needs of the people for a time; but like all traditions, things will change. What worked for one generation to honor their dead, will not always be appropriate. However, this is an important tradition to my parents. Perhaps it has nothing to do with right or wrong but honoring their traditions once and awhile is just respect.
Have a wonderful weekend, and a great Mother’s Day!
Tomorrow is Decoration at my Mom’s church. I bet some of you don’t know what Decoration is… do you? It is that day in the spring set aside for certain cemeteries to allow people to bring unlimited flowers to place on the graves of their loved ones. In most places there is also a singing and dinner on the ground. Relatives drive for miles and miles to be here for “decoration”. Strange concept? I think so too. I know it is very important to my mother and to others in her generation. I know that think they are paying a special tribute to their loved ones who have passed on from this life. See, my problem is I don’t really relate the cemetery to these people. My memories and my tribute to them is paid by remembering their lives and how I live my life. I am afraid (and I use that word loosely) that this is a southern tradition that will soon pass away. Today we have video recordings and other media to preserve realistic memories of our loved ones past. We don’t have to walk among the headstones to feel like a part of them is still with us.
Anyway, just another tradition; not a bad one, one that met the needs of the people for a time; but like all traditions, things will change. What worked for one generation to honor their dead, will not always be appropriate. However, this is an important tradition to my parents. Perhaps it has nothing to do with right or wrong but honoring their traditions once and awhile is just respect.
Have a wonderful weekend, and a great Mother’s Day!
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I couldn't agree with you more--it's good to respect our moms' generation--but I pay my tribute to those close in my life that have passed on by the way I live my life today. Just another generational thing.
I went shopping yesterday and it seems the PA club here in N TX has a large membership, too!
Happy Mother's Day to you!!!
JB
I went shopping yesterday and it seems the PA club here in N TX has a large membership, too!
Happy Mother's Day to you!!!
JB
Terri, PA hit the booklet for my Mom as well, plus I was having her and my mother-in-law over at the same time, so I will do it for her birthday in June....
Yes, we had to miss decoration at Antioch Cemetery in Somerville today due to the sick ones. I've rarely missed it in my life, but the crowds get slimmer year by year lately, don't know how much longer they'll keep it up.
My ancestors on my maternal grandmother's side going back several generations are buried there -- and now my father is buried there, too, and one of my cousins. I know it's only their bodies that are there -- their souls are elsewhere -- but somehow I feel closer to them when I'm there.
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My ancestors on my maternal grandmother's side going back several generations are buried there -- and now my father is buried there, too, and one of my cousins. I know it's only their bodies that are there -- their souls are elsewhere -- but somehow I feel closer to them when I'm there.
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