"611 miles to the west of here, in two small country cemeteries near the south central Kansas town of Halstead, lie the earthly remains of all my Brown and Scott family members who have gone on before me. When their time came to leave the earth, their bodies were taken to a final spot of rest, a place of slumber. As a small child, up to and throughout all of my young adulthood, I was taught by my parents to visit their graves to pay respect to them. I learned early on that I didn't have to be afraid of things like funerals and graveyards. That paying honor and respect to those no longer among the living, was the right and proper thing to do."
Good morning dear friends and family from the "other side", the Pacific side of the great Continental Divide. The skies above Montrose are mostly clear right now and our temperature is sitting at 43 degrees. Later on today, we'll be seeing a high of nearly 75 for the day and borrowing a line from Sammy John's hit of the 70's, "That's all right with me!" Yesterday was a beautiful Easter Sunday and everywhere you looked, folks were out and enjoying the day. Family dinners, hunts for eggs, parking lots at churches full for morning worship, and smiles on the faces of most folks that you would meet indicated that life was well here along the Western Slopes. Mike and I had a great day also and we are most thankful to have spent some time yesterday afternoon at the home of our good friends, the Fletcher Family, as we accepted their kind invitation to Easter dinner.
We are down to just about 21 days left of school now and where the time has gone, I do not know. During the month of May, I will probably meet myself in that all too familiar spot called "coming and going". I have a list of 1,000 things to do at school and an even greater list of things to do back home in Kansas. I will be journeying the 611 miles to the Sunflower state 3 different times during the month of May as I begin to tie up the last of the loose ends of my life there. But at the top of my Kansas "to do" list, is one very important thing that I cannot neglect. May 26th is Memorial Day, a time when my family has always gone to the Halstead Cemetery and the Fairview Quaker graveyard to decorate the graves of our deceased family members. I made a promise to my mom several years back that even when she could no longer go to make sure that each person had some flowers, that I would continue to take care of it for our family. So far I have been able to keep my "word" to her and this year shall not be the exception. A promise IS a promise.
I learned early on as a kid growing up the practice of "Decoration Day". You know, we always referred to it as that and I can recall once hearing this strange term of "Memorial Day" and thinking to myself, "What the heck is THAT?" Whatever a person calls it really matters not because it's the act of honoring the dead that counts. To me, there is nothing more beautiful than to drive by a cemetery and find it filled with beautiful flowers and to see people out there paying their respects and remembering the lives of others who had great impacts upon their own. When everything is all said and done, my going there is the very least I can do and perhaps when my time comes, someone will honor me as well.
In one of my very earliest of blog posts back in July of 2011, I wrote of making a special trip to the Laurel Cemetery near my hometown of Haven, Kansas. It was a very hot Kansas day, dry as a bone and windier than the dickens. But something special happened to me as a result of that visit and I will carry the memory of that life changing moment with me forever. I'm reposting it below if you would so care to read it.
I have found my dear friends and family that life is full of surprises and sometimes when you least expect it to happen, the chance comes along to throw off the excess baggage that we sometimes carry around with us. I love those kind of moments and every chance that it has happened for me to do so, I've found the end result makes my spirit soar. Take care dear ones, all of you. This day is ready to begin and I am thinking of you from far away.
the past is passed/that's why they call it that-a blog post from July 11, 2011
When I look back on my life's journey from my childhood in Haven, Ks. to my years of being married and having children, to my time now in middle-age, a single, divorced person who is only in "charge" of herself, I remember a lot of "ups and downs". The "ups" were great, fantastic! And the "downs" were, well, downs. Depending on the circumstance, some of them were DEEP downs.
Friends, it's those "deep down" times that seem to have a lasting impact upon us, at least in my case it has been. Yesterday, I think I got the "message" that it was time to take care of one of those times in my life so long ago.
If you don't mind, I'd rather not mention names or any particulars. But I can tell you that it involved friends now long gone from this earth as well as friends very much alive and well. And it meant a trip to the cemetery, a simple bunch of flowers to decorate someone's grave on a very hot July day, and a common prayer, uttered with hopes of peace and reconciliation. That was it-but in the end, for sure my life was made better for it.
For perhaps the very first time in my 55 years of existence, I believe I understood how it felt to really let go of something that I'd carried with me for a long, long time. It was the strangest of feelings....my heart was lighter, my spirit lifted. And when I came home from the cemetery and looked into the mirror I saw a "new person". It was strange, I REALLY saw someone different. And she looked a little less "stressed"out and a little happier. And you know what? I kind of liked seeing her that way! :)
Having a "bucket list" continues to change my life each day for the positive. And for the "life of me" I cannot tell you how it happens for sure. Maybe I'm just having an "awakening" or something. Perhaps it was my time to start shifting gears a bit and preparing for something new that's waiting for me. But whatever it is, my outlook on life has not been the same. And that's a GOOD thing!
Friends, have I known you long enough to ask? ...."Are you carrying around some leftover baggage from life "long ago"? If you are, then you know how heavy it is and what a burden it is to hold onto for so very long. And it's always in the way, coming between you and life right now. Just a thought, how about letting it go? And if you aren't ready to let all of it go, then how about starting with a little bit of it? Baby steps, baby steps. It's easier than you think, PROMISE!
I've always loved hearing this quote-sorry but I don't know who to attribute it to-
"Yesterday is history, tomorrow a mystery. Today is a gift...that's why they call it the "present". My friends, may we always hold those words close to our hearts.
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