Memorial weekend is early this year, officially celebrated tomorrow, Monday May 26th...It is the time in Wallowa County for high school graduations, family reunions and a time to remember departed family members and war veterans...It is also a time to celebrate the resurgence of spring with trees fully leafed out, blooms everywhere and the humming birds have arrived...Memorial weekend, here in the county, it is tradition to plant vegetable gardens.
As a child my family spent Memorial Day (my Mom always called it "Decoration Day") driving to the cemetery in Woodruff, Utah, where their 2 year old son was buried...Lilacs had been picked and placed in 3 pound coffee cans (small amount of water in the can) along with apple blossoms, tulips and anything else we could find to add to the bouquets...I remember it as a very long trip, made worse by the overpowering smell of flowers and a windy road, as my sister and I sat in the back seat surrounded by blooms and me growing more pale with each passing mile.
May was also a month to celebrate birthdays for our family and today I remember my brother George, on what would have been his 83rd birthday.
George 18 yrs old
Yesterday Herb and I attended a memorial service at the "Prairie Creek" cemetery for Dorothy Keener, one of the first people we met when moving to Joseph, 41 years ago...It was a small crowd as the Keeners have lived in Clarkston, Washington for the past 20 years and very few of the old time Forest Service people are still living in the county...Art and sons and many grandchildren were there to share memories of Dorothy...Hugs To All...OWAV:)
Lilacs and Memories
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