We cleaned up my family's burial plot. Although it is a fair drive for us, I like to go there with my kids to clean up the cemetery areas. We always bring the tools to clean up the headstones. The boys have a great time sweeping, picking up trash, and straightening flowers and wreaths that have blown over or fallen while their dad uses the gas powered tools to clean the tougher stuff.
We always make sure to add the flags for Grandpa who was a veteran of WWII and the Korean War.
One way to help my children feel connected to a man that has passed away is to have pictures of him at the headstones. After everything is clean, we talk about him and show them his pictures. It helps to teach my children their family history; it prods me to ask my own father new things about Grandpa so that I continue to learn about him.
We always walk the rest of the cemetery and find other veterans. (Where Grandpa is buried, there is a veteran that served in WWI.) One of my most favorite days to visit is on Memorial Day. A local Boy Scout Troop places a flag at every single headstone that belongs to a veteran who has passed. The cemetery is absolutely beautiful with those tribute flags proudly dotting the area.
What a great tradition! And speaking of cemetaries...here is another service idea for you - Go to http://www.findagrave.com/ where individuals post requests for others around the country to take photos of their family gravestones. Registration is free and you can search for requests local to you. Once you "claim" a request, you simply take a picture, and upload it to the website. Valuable service for those who may not live close to visit their loved ones on Memorial Day! :) Cousin Linda
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link! I put in on our pinterest board and am eager to follow-up and help someone else through it. Thanks!
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