I met Mark's family for the first time 14 years ago on Memorial Day Sunday. His family meets every year the Sunday before Memorial Day and visits the Wellsville and Hyrum City cemetaries to put flowers on their relatives graves. We have joined them every year except when Ben was born, as I didn't want to go into labor so far from home. The last two years we have met at our niece's son, Daxton's grave, then headed up to Cache Valley. First we visit the Wellsville Cemetary, where Marks paternal grandparents and great grandparents are buried. Helen and Roy, Mark's parents, raid their yard every year for anything blooming, and the others bring what they can as well, and miscellanious disposable containers are lovingly filled with flowers and left by the headstones. The family in attendance poses for a photo by their grandparents graves and then we head across the valley to Helen's hometown, Hyrum, for more of the same.
In Hyrum the family graves are by a huge tree, where in years past my nephews would climb and throw pine cones, but now another generation takes their place. My kids and the nieces and nephews kids are hoisted up into the tree for a good view and a few photos. My great grandparents are also buried in Hyrum, and my mother-in-law and I usually walk together down to their graves and I leave flowers for them and my great-uncle Garr who was killed in WWII.
After we finish we drive to Hyrum city park for a picnic and usually a volleyball game. We were short on people this year, so we played badminton, track-ball and frisbee, while the kids played on the playground.
This year I asked my parents if they would like to go to my grandparents graves on Memorial Day. My mom's parents are buried in Kaysville, so it's not far. But my dad's father is buried out in Kearns. I remember going there once as a little girl, but I haven't been there since.
We made our first stop in Kaysville to my Grandma and Grandpa Roundy's grave. A few weeks before I had been in Clearfield to pick up a shed, and the store wasn't open. So I decided to go drive by my grandpa's home. I haven't been there for a long time, and I was surprised how much I missed him. I believe he passed away in '97. I didn't have a really close relationship with him, but he was always a kind, cute man. I don't know much about my grandmother except she died of heart problems and she had a very clean house. I asked my mom to tell my kids something about her mother and she told us that my grandmother made good cinnemon rolls.
Then we headed to Kearns. The cemetary was crowded, and we were greeted with bagpiper playing "Amazing Grace." My dad has been going out there every year for the past several years, and usually has to clean off the grave. But this year it was already done. The kids posed for a photo and I had my dad tell a little about his father. The thing I found shocking was how young my grandpa was when he died. He was only 36, one year older than Mark, and my grandma was 33, one year older than me. So my grandma was left a widow with seven kids, and no job or education. It made me so sad to think of all the kids and how this event must have affected them all.
Since we were in Salt Lake we decided to stop in the cemetary in Highland to see my dad's grandparents graves. Again, there was a bagpiper, and Mark told the kids if any of them wanted to learn how to play one, he'd buy it for them. The mortuary that runs the cemetary had hot dogs and drinks, so we all had some lunch at the cemetary. That was a first.
Overall, it was a good weekend. I enjoyed renewing my links with the past and being with our family.
No comments:
Post a Comment