Memorial Day .........have a great one...and remember our soldiers

Memorial Day at Frank and Ellie's, 1998*

Windermere, Florida

The lake bumped the sand

causing the water to wrinkle

at the end of the long grass slope

that started back up at the house

The slope was lime green and shadow leaves swayed across it in the breezy heat

The barbecue was smoky with hamburgers,

and the table was piled with bowls of cole slaw, potato salad,

pickles, catsup and mustard

We sat under towering oak trees

with black angled branches

and a white blue sky

that held the heat in like

the lid on a pot of corn on the cob

Bessie the dog ran through the trees and into the lake

while the four small boys splashed in the water

and Grandpa shouted advice about their plastic raft,

him being an old Navy man

The furniture in the house was American Primitive,

dark wood-spoked chairs on an intricate wood floor

and bright orange crate labels from the family business

hung framed against pine slat walls

A small American flag waved out of the large spoon pitcher on the stove next to Grandma’s three layer chocolate cake, and the childrens' popsicles were red, white and blue

and left their mouths patriotic with color

It was Memorial Day that warm Florida Monday

We didn't mention it, but it was there.....

Z *a reprint

Between the burgers and the ribs, the chance to have a day off in the sun with friends and family or shop for a new mattress at the sales which save us money but seem the wrong emphasis for a weekend such as this, stop and remember who made all this possible. Blessings to you who fought and came home, blessings to you who lost a loved one fighting for our freedom, and blessings to you who are missing someone now who’s still at it. We owe you a lot. No, we owe you everything.

z
I posted this Friday, but I had to post it again today....I want as many people as possible to watch it.........thanks.