Decoration Day

"Decoration Day" was the most important holiday of the year to my Grandmother, Lucille Chase McCracken Beard. Although the calendar declared the day as "Memorial Day", Grandma insisted on "Decoration Day". Since she would also joke about changing the name to "Rainy Day" as the clouds seemed to gather on this day year after year, I thought the unusual title was of her making. I have since learned that the last Monday of May originated as "Decoration Day" clear back in 1868. In 1882 the term "Memorial Day" came into use, but that name was not widely accepted until after World War II, and never accepted by Grandma.

Whatever the name, it was a very important family day. By the time we arrived in Tetonia, Grandma and Uncle Leon had cut lilacs branches and had them soaking in canning jars ready to be displayed on the graves of loved ones at the Cache Clawson and Hayden Cemeteries near Tetonia. 

A family picnic was planned, an event attended by every mosquito in a ten state region. Our car windows looked like those in the picture on the left. Stepping outside Grandma's house reminded us of the OFF Mosquito Repellent commercial where the man put his arm into a glass box swarming with the pests.

OFF Mosquito Repellent Commercial

But that didn't stop Grandma. She was devoted to remembering her ancestors and was an avid genealogist in the days of handwritten pedigree charts and family group sheets.

I know Grandma would want the family to gather today and ornament the graves with lilacs, but distance no longer allows us to do that. Please join me in a brief "Decoration Day" visit to the Idaho cemeteries where family members who have gone before have been laid to rest.