Decoration Day

                                                  Memories linger from yesterday
                                                  of the most anticipated occasion around
                                                  Homecoming and Decoration Day
                                                  and dinner on the ground

                                                  As the old church bells would chime
                                                  the people came together at last
                                                  it was such a joyous time
                                                  to worship and reminise about the past

                                                  The graves were decorated in beauty
                                                  such a splendid sight to behold
                                                  the tables were spread and ready
                                                  with more food than they could hold

                                                  Preaching and shouting were a plenty
                                                  it could be heard for miles around
                                                  as a child waiting so patiently
                                                  my hunger continued to abound

                                                 The chicken-n-dumplings were waiting
                                                 especially for grandma each year
                                                 if she would've stopped her shouting
                                                 I knew they would soon disappear

                                                When the food was finally gone
                                                and the decoration was over and done
                                                they continued to linger on
                                                as if the day had only began

                                                Although some lived faraway
                                                they stayed until the sun went down
                                                after all it was Decoration Day
                                                and dinner on the ground

                                               Susie Swanson

                                             

      The month of May holds such special memories for me and Decoration Day stands out so clear. The older generation really believed in decorating the graves and I went with my grandma each year.

It was such a special occasion that my mom bought me a dress or most of the time made it herself on an old pedal sewing machine.I looked so forward to that new dress for decoration day.

We either made the flowers out of crepe paper or we cut  fresh roses and placed them in vases. We knew they wouldn't  last long but my grandma always said"they'll last as long as they last".

The little home church where we went was built of rock and every rock was placed by hand. The church was built sometime in the 1800"s. Both my grandpas and my dad help build it. The cemetery sit on a little hill across from the front of the church.

Now grandma was a shouting woman and I came to expect the shouting everytime she entered the church or walked into the cemetery. As a child I just went on with my playing and never paid any attention to grandma or the other shouting women, unless it was Decoration Day, then my hunger pains would kick in early.

After all of this we would gather at the home of the preacher(which happened to be my grandma's brother) for dinner on the ground. I never could understand why they called it that, but by that time I was starving so I'd grab my plate and sit on the ground for lack of a better place to sit, since all the chairs were took up by the grown ups. I never heard such talking and reminesing in my life. We surely made the  day of it and when we finally did make it home that's all grandma talked about for weeks on end or until the next year.

Today I still make flowers. But I use silk flowers to make tombstone wreaths for my parents and father and mother in law. I make pots of flowers for the other graves. I guess I can say the tradition lives on.

I hope some of you will remember and relate to this, meanwhile I've got to get busy on those flowers. Decoration Day is just around the bend and I can only hope for the dinner on the ground.   Blessings, Susie