a day of remembering

​SOMEWHERE IN KANSAS

Sunday, Ron and I traveled to the area where we were raised in rural Kansas. The countryside changes a little every time we journey back to our roots. Even though I’ve traveled that route many times, I am amazed at those changes.
   Contrary to the Kansas reputation of being nothing but flatlands, traveling west on I-70 paints a different picture. As we sped along one of the more significant rolling hills of the countryside, we overtook a big rig slowed by the climb. And though the sky was clear where we were, a blue haze in the distance gave a hint there might be a mist of rain happening somewhere.
   Little by little, nature has left cedar trees to overtake many pastures while man has taken over the crest of those hills with wind farms. Wind farms also have taken up residence in croplands, and though some see them as clean energy, they are a bone of contention for others. However, they appear to have garnered enough income to significantly help the surrounding small towns and communities.
   Still surrounded by enormous energy-producing machines, we exited the interstate onto sand and gravel roads that took us to our first stop, where we decorated graves on the farmland where I lived for some time when I was a young child.   
  
THE VOSS CEMETERY

My maternal ancestors long ago dedicated this land to a gravesite. I suspect it began because of the infant marker I found for Henry, dated 1885 – 1885. I remember a story about a baby dying at birth in a cornfield, and he was buried there. Was this cemetery that cornfield at one time?
   This has become a community cemetery that many have already decorated. So we add our decorations to several there. Now it’s time to move on to remember Ron’s family.

THE VESPER CEMETERY

The Vesper Cemetery sets on a hillside not far from a rural highway. Ron’s parents and four-year-old brother are buried there. Though Ron was born after his brother died, he knew him through others’ remembrances, and we’ve always included decorations for him.
   We wandered amongst the graves where many Zachgos and people from the Vesper community are buried. We also have a plot and a stone there for the day we must be interred. It feels a little strange seeing it, but we made the decision for whoever must bury us when our time on earth is gone.

A REUNION

Our fun stop is the Zachgo reunion. It has become a yearly tradition we celebrate on the Sunday of Memorial Weekend. It seems fitting to celebrate with relatives that are still living as we remember those who are no longer with us. So, we celebrated with good food and caught up with family news before we went to the last cemetery we visited.   
 
GREENWOOD UNION CEMETERY

Greenwood Union Cemetery is in Hunter, Kansas, where Ron’s younger brother and his sister-in-law are buried. In our earthly thinking, they left us when they were still too young to go.
   It was an emotional day of remembering. So when it was time to leave, we took the long way home on roads we traveled when we were younger.

REMEMBERING THOSE WHO GAVE ALL
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As we drove on those country roads and highways on Sunday, every cemetery we passed was decorated with flowers and many, many small flags. The military honors waited until Monday—Memorial Day.  
    The tradition of decorating graves started in the 1860s for those who had died in the Civil War. Today Memorial Day is a federal holiday to commemorate all American military personnel who died in all wars. They are the men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice so that we Americans might live in freedom.