We had an amazing Memorial-Day weekend spent in beautiful St. George. We took the kids to Snow Canyon and explored the fascinating lava tubes. We spent an afternoon in Zions National Park hiking easy trails like Weeping Rock.
We spent time with family at my husband’s cousin’s wedding.
I have breathtaking pictures of the red, white and black rocks that surround the landscape. I have funny-faced pics of my kids posing with their grandparents. I even have a picture of my sisters in law and me modeling our new outlet-deal $5 sweaters.
We had a great time.
Yet mixed in the scroll of pictures from our fun getaway are pictures of a tiny grave decorated with flowers.
We left town right after school on Friday and didn’t know if we’d have a chance to visit our little Luca this weekend. No big deal, right? I’ve mentioned before that I don’t love visiting the cemetery.
But for some reason as we rolled out of our driveway headed for a road trip down south I was sad to think that maybe he’d be forgotten.
Memorial day means so much more to me now that I have a part of my immediate family to visit and remember.
Luckily we drove home in time to stop by Luca’s on Monday.
I carefully clipped some purple and white flowers and some yellow wild roses from our backyard and tucked them into a pint mason jar. Then I tied a purple gingham bow around the top.
We took them to Luca and I laid them near his picture.
I love that the flowers came from home. A home that Luca didn’t spend time in while he was on the earth, but a home where we have felt him near.
My boys love to visit the cemetery on Memorial Day – that’s when there are booths set up offering free cans of soda. We didn’t have much time to spend at the cemetery but we sat near his grave as we sipped our drinks and soaked in the sun.
As we were getting ready to leave I noticed a ladybug on the right side of Luca’s headstone. I watched it crawl and thought about how much my boys love bugs and how much Luca would have loved to see it.
Maybe he did see it. Maybe he was there too.
Out of all of the pictures I was able to take this weekend, I think the one below is my favorite. Like I said earlier, Memorial Day is a lot different for me than it used to be. It’s more than a 3-day weekend. It’s more than a vacation to St. George.
It’s another opportunity to remember the ones we’ve loved and lost.
The ones who will remain part of our hearts forever.
Boogers on the Wall 