Will the peonies be ready for Memorial Day? That is the question asked at this time every year. My mother, mother-in-law and grandmothers always looked forward to seeing the lovely peony flowers out in their soft and bright pink colors every Memorial Day, decorating the gravesites at the local cemeteries. I’ve inherited that same thought when my family’s gravesites are visited.
At my last visit, the peonies were budded. A quick estimate was made when they would open. With the lack of winter and early spring moisture, the peony plants remained stubborn and green, ready to offer their Memorial Day surprise decorating the many cemeteries.
Years ago, the peony plants were carefully planted near my loved ones’ graves. Every year those lovely flowers give comfort to me and others. When I visit my little brother’s gravesite, the large peony bush planted there between his site and my young uncle’s site, is noted. I wonder who may have planted that peony bush years ago. Probably it was my Granny Esther, who planted it in memory of her little five year old son, just as I planted a peony start in memory of my son more than 20 years ago. That is what Memorial Day is all about - remembering.
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President John F. Kennedy said, “Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe.”
“Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few,” said Winston Churchill, August 20, 1940, referring to the airmen whose brave flying helped turn the tide of W.W. II.
All those brave Americans who fought and gave their lives for the freedom of others is part of Memorial Day services all over the United States. We honor those heroes who never returned from the wars and the service they gave their country.
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