We are not ready for another dog. We weren't ready for a dog then, actually. Lilly-bean came to us under extraordinary circumstances. A Dog of Destiny. The kind to whom you can't say no. Almost a year later (not quite a full trip around the sun, but this time last year it was obvious that Lilly was running out of road), the small dog-shaped gap in the day is not quite as sharp-edged. Memorial Day is about remembering and honoring fallen soldiers from both Union and Confederate sides. I know that, but my parents suggested that we kids spend part of the weekend cleaning up graves. Pick a cemetery (there were plenty of old farm cemeteries), pick a grave that has been neglected, and neaten it up. For Memorial Day. Maybe "suggested" is too ambivalent a verb. |
Still, over the course of this year's Memorial Day weekend, I'll take a moment or two to contemplate and be grateful for the service of those who have gone ahead.