Remembering those who are gone

It is strange to be in another country on a significant holiday, that is not celebrated where we are but nevertheless we manage to think of those men and women who died serving in the military. It’s also become a day to honor all of those who were near and dear to our hearts that have passed on. People place flowers on graves and flags on graves during this holiday to show respect and appreciation to those who have passed.  In the U.S. It’s hard to drive by a cemetery during this holiday and not feel the emotion of how loved and missed people are when you see the flowers and flags every few feet across the cemetery. It’s heartwarming to see that outpouring of love and its sad at the same time to think of how missed those loved ones are.

 

I saw this story of a little boy and his tree. 

 

“There once was a little boy who loved Lucky Charms breakfast cereal. One day he showed his father he could get a free tree by sending in some box tops. The father thought this was a “long shot” but thought there was no harm in trying. The box tops were mailed off, and a few weeks later a Manila envelope came addressed to this little boy. He looked at the package in wonder, could THIS be his tree? 

 

Upon opening the envelope there was a little twig with some roots… not quite the vision the little boy had. So he and his daddy planted the twig in a paper cup and faithfully watered it. Soon it was very green and out growing the paper cup, so they moved it to a nice pot, then a bigger one, a still bigger one… then finally to a small flower bed in the front yard… and it grew and grew!! The family was building a new house, so the little pine tree, now about 3’ tall was transplanted to a whiskey barrel to make the move. It lived happily in the whisky barrel until some 7 years later the family built another new home on the side of the mountain. The tree was now about 7’ tall and required equipment to load it into a truck to make the 15 -mile trip to its new home in August of 2002. 

 

The little boy was now a fun loving young man, who sadly passed away on November 23, 2014. His Lucky Charms tree is growing tall and strong. A beautiful reminder to our family of this boy we all love.”

 

Happy Memorial Day to each of you, wherever you are and how you celebrate this day. 

 

Con amor,

Vero