Memorial Day - the real one at the end of May - always meant a lot to me during my younger days in the 1950s and '60s. Our small town had a parade that the war veterans put on their uniforms to march in, and it culminated out at Greenlawn Cemetery.

Decorating the graves prior to the Day was an important annual ritual, and it was a good opportunity to visit with some of the older townfolk who cut flowers from their gardens to arrange on their loved ones' graves. My grandmother supervised my mother and aunt on the project of loading up metal flower containers that were left over from past funeral arrangements with lilacs, iris, and bright orange Oriental poppies.


These days, most of the graves have perennials bushes like peonies and iris growing on them, so fewer people add flowers in vases to what's already blooming.


And every year my grandmother had a big Memorial Day picnic for all the extended family. Second and third cousins from Denver and Boulder and Wyoming would dress up their kids and bring potato salad and home-made ice cream. It was important because otherwise we wouldn't have gotten to know them.


My cousin Betsy, who lives near us in Las Vegas and comes over for holidays and her birthday, is the youngest girl in this photo.

My Aunt Eleanor, who never married and lived with my grandmother always made a huge batch of a punch that was something like this modern-day recipe:

1 can 295mL Minute Maid® Grape Punch frozen concentrate thawed (undiluted)
1 can 295mL Minute Maid® Lemonade frozen concentrate thawed (undiluted)
3 cups Sprite® Sparkling Beverage
2 cups Water
Ice cubes or ice ring

I've never tried it on my own. Maybe I will some day.