Good morning…
This Memorial Day weekend, my 88 year old dad drove nearly four hours to lay geraniums at the foot of my grandparents’ grave. This annual tradition of remembrance was foregone for a few years as my mom’s health issues took precedence, but this weekend my sister stayed with my mom and my dad drove on his own to visit the grave of his parents and his grandmother. Later that night, he enjoyed his 70th reunion of Tippecanoe High School graduates in Tipp City, Ohio.
How important it is to remember and reconnect.
With the red geraniums outside our own home in Atlanta, Georgia, I also pay tribute.
I am part of an active family text string with my sister (Ohio) and my brother (Pennsylvania), my dad (Ohio) and my Uncle Tim in California. We were all so grateful to receive these photos announcing that my dad had successfully made the long drive, and it was good to talk to him the next day, knowing he had returned safely back home to my mom.
Uncle Tim is our family’s most avid historian, so on this Memorial Day weekend, I texted him privately. “Hey, just thinking… You know so much about the Herr family history. Did Grandad ever fight in a war? Do you have any stories?”
“No, none of us served,” came his quick reply. Then the next day he sent these photos.
Joe Leonard was my grandmother’s brother, Uncle Joe to my dad and his two brothers. He was only 24 when he died in the war, serving in Corsica, a French/Italian island in the Mediterranean. “The niece of his copilot put together the whole story,” wrote my uncle, “and she sent me Uncle Joe’s cap, which I passed onto your cousin Sam.”
Every family has a history, and we all do well to remember our own.
On this Memorial Day weekend, who might you ask about the brave men and women in your family line who served our country valiantly?
Talk about their lives.
Bring their stories to life.
Remember the gift of their sacrifice.
Each person who has given their lives in service to our country deserves to be remembered for helping to secure the freedom we wake up to today. As we remember our loves ones, might we extend our gratitude to God, the Maker of each person ever given breath?
Those from the farthest reaches of the earth will remember
and turn back to look for the Eternal;
All the families of the nations
will worship You.
The Eternal owns the world;
He exercises His gentle rule over all the nations (Psalm 22:27-28, VOICE).
May God’s gentle hand hold each of ours today, as we quietly remember our own.
…Sue…
