Decoration Day

It's that time of year again, Decoration Day here in our little part of the world.. I've been busy making tombstone wreaths and flower arrangements for the up coming Decoration the Saturday before Memorial Day.. Then we have another one coming up in June.. It takes me back to long ago memories when I was a little girl and I went every year with my little Ma (as we called her) to Decoration and Dinner on the ground.. My mom and dad went alot too and when they couldn't go I always went with little Ma.. We called her that because she was so little and my other grandma was bigger. We called her Big Ma..lol... Eveybody always said if it came a good, stiff wind she'd blow away. 

Times were so much different back then.. We made flower arrangements from my Little Ma's roses that I've wrote alot about or we made them from crepe paper.. We knew those flowers didn't last very long on the graves but as Ma used to say, they'll last, long as they last. As for the Dinner On The Ground, I never could quite figure that one out.. They always had the food spread out on big tables, either at the church or over at the preacher's house, who happened to be my little Ma's brother.. Everybody made sure they brought  Little Ma's favorite dish, Chicken and Dumplings. They'd be so many bowls I couldn't count them all.. I was just a kid but I remember it as if it was yesterday.. It was a big Homecoming where everyone came from far and near and they looked forward to it every year.. My little Ma never wanted to leave, she just kept staying until sunset. She knew everybody there and they all knew her and all were her kin one way or another... She could talk for hours on end and my dad was always like that too. Everybody always says that's who I get it from..lol.. But the kid that I was I enjoyed playing with the other kids. Time meant nothing to me, even if I was so tired I couldn't play another lick.. I always looked forward to that new, little dress mama made me each year, especially for Decoration.. She made about all of my dresses that I wore to church or school.. I was the oldest in the family and there were no hand me downs for me except from friends and I cherished them. I handed mine down to my one and only sister, who happened to be almost ten years younger than me.

Each year when I get busy making these flower arrangements I think about it all and how the times have changed.. People don't go all out like they used to and it's kinda sad in a way that certain traditions have fell through the cracks. I know when I put these flowers on those graves they're not gonna know anything about it but it's for me to honor their memory. My mama once said , when I'm gone don't throw my old body in the ground and walk away and never come back around... I knew what she meant and she knew we wouldn't do that.. It's just that she saw so many people that did it.. 

 I also want to add that I've been slow to keep up with your posts lately and I'm sorry. With garden season in full swing and planting my annuals and making flower arrangements it's been a busy time , needless to say.. I thank each one of you for the sweet comments and visits to mine and I will get around to your posts soon.. I really enjoy each one... I almost forgot to mention that I'm working on my new book as well. I'm doing the editing now and hopefully it will be done soon.. Hope Ya'll have a nice Wednesday and God Bless, Susie