Decoration Day and Red Geraniums

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​Grandma Minnie rides shotgun; Mom is behind the wheel of our 1960 pale blue Mercury Monterey.  Four kids are jostling like snakes in a pit for the coveted window positions on the back bench seat.  The trunk is filled with red geraniums.  It’s Decoration Day and we are on our annual pilgrimage to the grave yards in southwest Wisconsin’s Driftless area to honor our ancestors.  I am reminded of this every time I look at red geraniums. 

​Our trip lasts the day and takes us over hills that are unaffected by the last ice age, past fields of newly emerging corn in neat rows and fresh green alfalfa ready for cutting.  It is slow going on these back roads with ninety-degree curves constructed by frugal Norwegian settlers along their neighbors’ property lines.
 
At the time I didn’t understand what this was all about; I recall asking Mom why great uncles and aunts and cousins were “planted”.  I don’t recall her answer.  We would wander these cemeteries to find the deceased relatives, pull out a geranium and place it in the hole we would make in front of the marker.  The hardest part was finding water nearby to give it a drink before we drove to the next set of graves. I wonder how those plants survived through the growing season.
 
While not many of our relatives served in the armed forces, it was a good lesson for our young minds to be respectful and remember those who have died.  There is still a tradition in many parts of the country to place flowers on graves of not only soldiers but loved ones who have died.
 
Decoration Day was originally on May 30 to honor the Civil War dead.  It evolved into Memorial Day in 1971 when it was moved to the last Monday in May to create a three-day weekend and the start of summer holiday season.  We have lost a bit of the tradition to honor those who have died while serving our country.  It might be time to start planting some geraniums.