We're coming up on the anniversary

of my mother's death, March 2nd.  I'm thinking about going down to Danville on the 3rd of March to lay some flowers at her grave and visit it for a while.  I'm going to text my step-father to see if he wants to meet for lunch somewhere in Danville that day, so maybe we can catch up.  I haven't seen him since May when he brought some family pictures up for me and we talked for a couple of hours.  He was incredibly good to her, especially in her last illness.  I want to check up on him and make sure he's doing okay.  We're not especially close, and he has a lot of drama in his family that I try to stay away from.  But I do like him; he's my favourite step-father, and I must admit I probably like him better than my father, with whom I haven't spoken since 1993.

Momma is buried in Bellevue Cemetery in Danville.  I checked the regulations, and it should be fine to bring some real cut flowers and lay them on her grave.  I'm thinking about some nice tulips.  She probably liked roses better, but tulips are a herald of spring.  I always thought it was sad she didn't live to see the renewal of life in spring.  She despised gladiolas, though--that I know.  It reminded her of funerals.

Okay, I'm going to attend to a needy cat who wants love (and food, but it's not time yet).

Yesterday was also my grandmother's 87th birthday

I'm going to visit her in a little while; my mom and stepfather are coming up to take me to see her. It'll be nice to get out of Lexington for awhile, too--that's rare for me, usually only when I visit my family or sometimes if one of my colleagues lets me carpool to a professional meeting. It's nice to be off on a Monday, too. Of course, it's good to remember that this isn't just a free day, but a day to remember those who have passed, especially those who served their country in the military.

Did you know that according to a law passed several years ago all Americans are supposed to pause for a moment of silence at 3 pm to remember the veterans who have died? I read that in the Christian Science Monitor the other day; I don't have the article handy just now.

Here in the South it's sometimes called Decoration Day and people go out to cemeteries to lay flowers and visit the graves, not just of those who died in wars but pretty much everyone. There's a tendency for one woman in the family to be informally assigned the task of keeping up the graves, at least in my father's family. I'm that person--I'm the last of that line, but I haven't been able to get to Owenton for years to take care of the Duncan graves. My grandmother usually takes care of the graves in Danville, but her health is an issue this year. I don't know if she'll have us do it or not. A few years ago we went out to the two cemeteries where we have people buried and she showed us the graves. I remember pretty much how to get to the Perryville Cemetery for the Lambs and Craigs. The Reardons were up on some hill that had a steep grade somewhere out in Boyle County near Mitchellsburg, I think. I'll have to ask my mom. Someone should know from my generation.

Okay, time to check out the news. It looks to be a beautiful day--sunny and hot. I hope you have a safe and wonderful day.

Now that's a bad oeconomy, when they evict you post mortem

Plea to save World War I Lancashire Fusilier remains

A historian is appealing to the relatives of a Lancashire World War I soldier after the Spanish authorities placed an eviction notice on his grave.

Sir Gilbert Mackereth, whose body is buried in a San Sebastian cemetery, will be exhumed and disposed of due to unpaid taxes on the plot.

Isn't that rather awful, that they can just boot out and dispose of the remains based on unpaid fees?