Can We Talk 2

Memorial Day Weekend

         Memorial Day weekend. I hear Sergent York on the TV in the other room. My dad is watching Gary Cooper play pacifist turned soldier. I've seen it so many times. I did watch the last half of a John Wayne movie earlier. I'm so accustomed to him playing cowboys, it was interesting to watch him playing a naval officer who was wounded.

The rest of my family is having a bonfire tonight, a cookout and fireworks---out in the country, of course. My niece's family bought a few acres and are clearing land to make gardens next year. The kids are having a great time, I'm sure, with the little hens, and pet pigs, and running around the fields. Even the one year olds love the "boom" of the fireworks. And they're learning to roast marshmallows. But my dad has had bronchitis and an eye infection. I won't let him go out in all that smoke and pollen. I had to work, so we would have been really late getting there if we had chosen to go. (You actually have to drive past James Monroe's home to get there.)

         Sunday after church, I'm fixing a menu out of a current magazine. The corn on the cob is broken into smaller pieces, thrown into the boiling water, along with other fresh vegetables, shrimp, and sausage. You drain it and pour it all out on a pan or platter and let your diners use tongs to pick what they want. Hush puppies and homemade coleslaw go with it. And cookie bars and melon. We drink iced tea. The kids drink milk or water. Dad thinks I should fix hot dogs because the kids are such picky eaters.

         I want to set up a buffet inside and let them go out to eat on the deck. We can carry the children's table outside, too, if it doesn't rain. I have to talk to these children about a lot of things, like not going into my room when I'm at work, not opening my cabinets and closets and drawers in all rooms of the house and opening packages that aren't theirs. Oh, and not beating up on Big Pop/Grandpa who is getting old and fragile and has thin skin and bleeds very easily. I know he likes to play with them, and they don't understand where rough housing ends and hurting an old man begins. They can be my helpers by taking care of him when I'm not here. I work most Sundays, and that's when they visit him. I don't think their mothers realize how fragile he's getting, and I know they don't keep track of where their kids are.

         I also want to share with them what Memorial Day means and tell them about their great great grandfather who served in World War I in France. And so many more stories.They need to understand it's not just about food, fun, and fireworks. We are remembering special people and special causes, We celebrate the freedom that we have, the rights that have been won for us. And we do not forget the sacrifice of those who lived before us.