Remembering

Thinking about Memorial Day reminded me of this old photo of mama and her family on a trip to the cemetery to tend to the graves of loved ones.  If  my calculations are correct it was taken around 1952.  Mama is on the far right on the front row.  Her sister and brother are to the left of her.  Behind them is grandma and that stately woman with the beautiful braid is my great grandma.  She died at a fairly young age, so I never got to meet her.  When this picture was taken, grandma was pregnant with mama's baby sister.

People used to do that you know, they'd go to the cemetery on Memorial Day, or Decoration Day as it used to be called, to tidy up graves, giving special attention to the war dead with flowers and small flags.  It was a special occasion.  This picture wasn't taken on Memorial Day, but it is a reminder of all those times as a child when I heard grandma talk about visiting the cemetery to leave some flowers and to make sure "everything was in order".   I like that they took it that seriously.  If you look closely at the picture though, you'll see that my Uncle D. had not yet acquired the serious attitude that great grandma Adams no doubt deemed appropriate for the task at hand.