Pack Creek Ranch, San Juan County, Utah
The end of May and the beginning of June 2026. Summer’s here. School’s out. High school graduation and the rodeo are happening. And welcome rain in the valley.
REMEMBERING
This was written the day after Memorial Day, when the visitors to the local cemetery had come and gone, leaving behind flowers and flags – and the deceased to rest in peace.
As in many nations, a day is set aside to honor those who died in the service of their country. Memorial Day in the United States is just such a day. Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C. is the focus of the celebration – row upon row of white stones marked with American flags and flowers. And always a somber laying of a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
But the day and the weekend are given over to much more personal and local events. I have asked friends and relatives questions about what they remembered or did for Memorial Day 2026. Here, with slight edits for requested privacy, is what they said.
“My brother and I were separated at birth and placed for adoption. After years of searching, we found each other. And also learned that we were the only relatives we had. So, last year we got identical tattoos – our initials entwined and placed just inside our arms closest to our hearts. Memorial Day weekend.”
“Growing up in a small town in Texas, Memorial Day was a time to go with other families and tend the graves of those who had passed. I remember this as a happy time – raking leaves, planting flowers. and telling stories about our ancestors. And a picnic!”
When I ask someone where and when they were born, they know. Then I ask them if they know where and when they were conceived. And, more often than not, they know that, too. And then I ask where they were before that. The answers vary – sometimes bizarre, but mostly they don’t remember.
“Both my great-grandfathers graduated from the military academy at West Point. During the American Civil War, one served as a cavalry officer in the Union Army, and one led an artillery battalion in the Confederate Army. They remain alienated from one another for many years. The only photograph I ever saw of them together was when they reunited at the cemetery at Gettysburg to place flowers on the graves of the men they led. It was Memorial Day.”
“My family and I disagreed about everything – politics, race, and religion. When my parents died, I was notified only after they were buried – and I don’t know where. Now that I am old myself, I think of them on Memorial Day, and feel a sense of sadness – not for me – but for them.”
“We always have a family reunion on the holiday weekend, and do something crazy together – horse races, the Indy 500, a hot air balloon ride, a trip to Vegas. An endless string of great memories with those I love.”
And you? What do you remember?