Decoration Day

The trees are leafing out, the grass is a vibrant green, and the dandelions are everywhere.  This weekend is the unofficial start of the summer season.  It's also traditionally a weekend of reflection and gratitude for the service our men and women have given for our country.

When I was a kid, it was called Decoration Day, and we would pile into the station wagon and drive to the old family cemetery in Oakes, ND so my Dad could clean up the gravesites and lay flowers.  The cemetery is on a hill, and we'd shriek with fear and delight when the car would tilt almost sideways, and I was certain that we'd start rolling down the hill.

There's another cemetery in Cassville, Wisconsin that holds the remains of many more McCartneys.  Orris McCartney was born in New York state in 1794 and was one of the pioneers of the upper Midwest, moving through first Illinois, and finally settling in Cassville.  A local historian in Cassville has researched my great great great grandad and said that the funeral procession went on for miles when Orris died.

We don't have a huge tradition of military service in my family.  My older brother served during Vietnam, but my father was denied, because, he said, flat feet.  Based on letters I found from his father written when Dad was in college, I think his parents thought that education was more important than the war.

Today, I think of my friends in Texas who lost their son in Afghanistan this year.  And I think of the serviceman that sat next to me on the plane that day.  He was close to my age, and saw me watching a TV show on my IPAD, saw the acronym TAPS on the screen, and started a conversation.

His family DID have a big military tradition.  His only child, a son, followed him into the service as soon as he was eligible.  The Dad had done 2 tours in Iraq, and expected to do more, and when his son was deployed to the Middle East, the family couldn't have been more proud.

Less than two weeks into his deployment, his only son was killed by an IED; a roadside bomb.  He left behind a young wife and a newborn.

This man on the plane was brave enough to tell me his story while crying through it.  This big, strong man with the graying crew cut sobbed as he told me about his son's funeral and memorial.  I never looked at a man in uniform the same way again.

Because of their service, I am able to enjoy summer in my beloved Minnesota.

Scarlet Tanager

Killdeer

Goldfinch

Indigo Bunting

Rose Breasted Grosbeak

Baltimore Oriole