Remembering

I love this picture of my grandparents!

Kate enjoyed putting the flowers by their headstone.

I've never actually visited graves of relatives on Memorial Day -- mostly because we didn't have any graves of relatives to visit in Nebraska (they're mostly in Idaho and Utah). I don't have any excuses since I've been living in Utah, though...which has been a long time now. I only recently realized how close my grandparents' gravesite is -- just up the road in American Fork. So Kate and I first went and visited graves with Andrew's grandparents for his side of the family, had a picnic in the park, then headed over to American Fork to visit my grandparents' grave.

Last week we ate watermelon for the first time this year, and I got it with black seeds --eww. Kate didn't like that, and I had to spend all my time picking them out for her. I told her about my Grandpa Ericksen who ate watermelon -- black seeds and all! That has made an impression on her and now she talks about it every time we eat watermelon. Tonight we had some, and she said, "White seeds are yummy for you and me; black seeds are yummy for your grandpa!"

My grandpa died when I was only seven, and my grandma died when I was five (but had been sick for years before that), but I've always felt a bond with him. I slept in his bed when we visited him after my grandma died and kicked him all night, to find him sleeping in a chair by morning.

There have been times when I've felt like he was watching over me (since his death), helping me somehow -- I can't say for sure if that's true or not, but I have felt that. I only wish I had known both of them better.

There was definitely a special spirit there when I took a few minutes to ponder their lives before we left. I think there is something more to remembering and honoring our ancestors than we fully realize/appreciate.

Kate and I had a nice time at the cemetery and will definitely be making a tradition of it.