Memorial Day Weekend, Part 3

It has been several years since we have made the grand pilgrimage to Eureka to decorate my great-grandparents graves.  We've gone to Heber Valley Camp, we've had busy weekends, other things have gotten in the way.  But as we were not going to be at Heber Valley Camp, we decided we would go, and we'd go in mass.  Eugene and his crew (less Blake), Mikayla and all of her people, Mom, and the four of us all drove to Eureka.  It was the first of many stops for us today.  We did a bit of cleanup of the grave, pulling lots of weeds.  We need to take out a chain saw and get rid of most of the beech trees  that were planted years ago because they have died and look terrible.  They are the landmark for us to find the graves, but I think we'd able to find the spot, even without the trees. 

While the adults were working, the kids wandered around the cemetery.  Lest we be accused of inattention, some of us did follow them around.  There are so many interesting things to see and find and pick up and explore.  I wandered around with Cora who showed me all the spots that most interested her.

When we used to go to Eureka with Grandma Hare, she would always have us drive over to Mammoth to see the sights.  She'd point out where she lived, we'd see the old baseball diamond, and the remains of the hotel her mother ran.  Knowing she'd be pleased, and to pass on the stories to our kids, we drove to Mammoth and pointed out all those things to our children.  I'm always amazed that people still live there.

Rather than lunch in Eureka where the wind always howls (we've done that for many years), we opted to eat in Santaquin at their city park.  On our way there, we stopped at the Goshen Cemetery to place flowers on the graves of Uncle Doug and Aunt Cecil.  Memorial Days past, we would always stop at their house for lunch.  We'd run around with cousins we only saw once a year, scramble around the rodeo grounds, and eat delicious rolls that Aunt Cecil made.  It was fun to show our kids where we played as kids.  

The park in Santaquin was very nice.  They have fun equipment and a nice pavilion, and we ate and the kids ran around.  It had been overcast all morning, and as we were finishing up lunch, it began to sprinkle.  It looked to be threatening more serious rain, and sure enough, as we were packing up, the heavens opened and it poured.  We were finished just in time.

In order to make our cemetery visits more meaningful, we brought along Grandma Hare's Cookbook and read about some of the family members she mentions.  She wrote about Jane Hindson Mordue, and I questioned where she and husband John were buried.  Mom thought they might be in Payson, and as she was with us and we weren't in a hurry to get home, we stopped in Payson to see if we could find them.  (Cemetery number three, if you're counting.)  We did!  They were in the cemetery registry, and we found their headstone.  I feel sort of bad that we've never visited my great-great-grandparents, especially as we sort of pass by them every Memorial Day.  Turns out another set are in Pleasant Grove, and we'll have to find them another time.

Our next stop was in Springville, at David Davies grave (cemetery #4!).  No one is going to visit David and his mother, and we owe a lot to him.  We left them flowers and told a couple of funny David stories.  We should have brought along some bacon or a donut to eat in his honor.  

Coming up State Street from Springville, we passed right by the Provo City Cemetery, so we made one final stop (Five cemeteries.  Five!) to leave flowers for Aunt Jo.  She lived in Goshen and my mom and Aunt Georgianne stayed with her for several summers.  I knew her and remember attending her funeral.  She also doesn't have anyone to leave her flowers, so we bequeathed our final mum to her.  

It was a great day and weekend honoring our dearly departed ancestors, some of whom we knew personally and loved and miss, and some of whom we also love, we just don't remember knowing and loving them.  I want to instill a love in our children for those who have come before us, and I hope that visiting their graves will be a significant part of that.