Memorial Day

It was the sweetest thing. A group of young children of my acquaintance went into the woods of a Virginia suburb yesterday, to pay tribute to fallen soldiers. Their “ceremony” included a backdrop of a cross they had constructed from backyardy debris, American flags, and flowers they had picked. It was very traditional in that the girls picked the flowers and the boys were the Marines and one a supervisor (!). There was a procession, the singing of the national anthem, a prayer, then a little “Lift High the Cross,” and it closed with one of the children making the sign of the cross with holy water on the forehead of everyone present, as they were sent off.

With no prompting from any adults there for their ceremony, they certainly all seemed to have a sense Memorial Day isn’t just about hot dogs and water games. The same children woke up early this morning to offer a prayer at Arlington Cemetery, where a late neighbor of one family present is buried.