Happy Memorial Day

I'm feeling a little guilty today. Growing up, I spent every Memorial Day decorating graves with my mother and grandmother. It was a big family holiday and I have wonderful memories. Since I got married, we've spent a few Memorial Days back home and I know my mother is carrying on the tradition well but I always feel a little guilty on Memorial Day not visiting a loved one's grave somewhere.

Friday night, I sat down to put some loose pages in my scrapbooks and spent the next four hours looking through every last page I have created. I read the journaling, I smiled a lot and cried a little bit. This is what I do this for--to remember. It seemed appropriate that I would do this on Memorial Day weekend.

So in memory today, I want to say thank you to my grandfather, Andrew Jackson Moffitt.

He fought in World War II, earned a Silver Star on Attu, and rarely talked about it. I think like many of his generation, he just did what was asked of him and didn't necessarily think there was anything heroic in it. He's been gone for a long time now but I'm still grateful every day for what he and his brothers and his friends and so many others did for this country, then and now.

And then there is my grandma, Twila Oman Fehlman. She didn't fight in any war but she preserved every memory she could. Without her, I would have very few pictures of me as a child. Looking through her photo albums as a child was always a pleasure. She kept them in her bedroom, in the corner, and (when I wasn't playing with her jewelry) I often sat on the floor and looked at her albums. I did this page a few years ago.

She's the oldest of the three sisters. She made my ancestors live for me, not just on Memorial Day. I can't look at a lilac bush or a peony and not think of her. I miss her and my Grandpa Fehlman more than I can possibly express.

Whether you live near or far from the resting place of your ancestors, take a moment today to remember those who helped make you who you are. Say thank you to a soldier or veteran. Smile at a memory. Happy Memorial Day.