Heidi Anne's Last Memorial Day (While Being In Logan)

 Our little tradition is to get a package of mums or two early early in the morning (basically, we hit Wal-Mart at 7:00 AM when they put the flowers on sale for like $1). 

Then we go to the cemetery with our little spades, brushes, and flowers. If we find a marker that has become obscured over the decades, we gently clean the markers. We always give a flower to someone who was in the military, any of those obscured "forgotten graves", (mainly are sadly children), and give them a flower.  Over the years we've had friends pass away as well that we make a special point to visit them as well.

Heidi Anne wanted to be in charge this year she's now aware of what death really is having lost 2 kittens and 1 great granddad this year. So we just followed her around as she found the forgotten graves, uncovering the markers and telling each one "I know you're in heaven, but I think your watching me, so here is a pretty flower. I remember you." I thought about that, she would say it to as many as she could. With the soldiers, she would recite the Pledge of Allegiance with her hand over her heart and then place the flower.  

I, as with countless moms, wonder "Am I raising her / him / them right?" For those 2 hours I couldn't have been prouder that she was my little 4 (almost 5) year old daughter. I realized I was in tears. It's so weird to me, it feels like just yesterday I did a post about Heidi Anne's first Memorial Day ever. Her little sunny 10 month old smile and just trying to learn to walk. Now, it's her last Memorial Day she'll celebrate in Logan but the first one where she figured out what Memorial Day means. See, how can you not be all amazed by that?

Normally, we'd go to Aggie Ice Cream or Cold-stone for an ice cream treat. Char had work soon and neither of the places opened until much later in the day. So we tweaked tradition a little and had some ice cream at home. We dug and found some turkey burgers back in the freezer, not quite the iconic juicy burgers and hot dogs over a barbecue, but you make due with what you have.