Honoring Family Who Have Died

We spent four days in Canon City which put us near where numerous family members have died, John's parents, his sister Kendal, our sister-in-law Diane, as well as my grandfather who is buried in Victor, a town just under 30 miles away from Canon City--if you take a really washboard, curving road through Phantom Canyon. (More about the drive and Victor in another post.)

My grandfather's grave is located in the Sunnyside Cemetery outside Victor, in the Elks Rest section.

The mountain cemetery has no perpetual care.  /weeds and grass grow where they will.  I am the oldest living relative and only relative living anywhere nearby and we hadn't been to the grave for 5 years.  The whole grave looked like the ground you see here around the headstone.

Friday John and I and our brother-in-law John Abbott drove to the cemetery and the two men used a shovel and a rake to clean the grave. Before leaving John's house we had picked peony flowers and I put some on the newly-cleaned grave.

The next day we met John's brother Tim and his daughter Megan at Mountain Vale Cemetery where Tim and John's parents, Tim's wife Diane and John Abbott's sister-in-law are entombed and his parents are buried. Megan helped with some of the work decorating with more peonies.

Next we were off to nearby Lakeside Cemetery where John Abbott's aunt and uncle are buried.

Our last stop was at Christ Episcopal Church in Canon City where John's sister Kendal's cremains were placed in the columbarium in January.

Remembering Those Who Served

Today we went to Denny's for a late breakfast-early lunch. Sitting near a window, we saw streams of motorcycle riders coming into the parking lot--and looking for the bathrooms. Seems they are part of the Memorial Day Run for the Wall, an annual motorcycle ride to Washington, DC, and the Viet Nam Wall. Obviously, many of the riders had served in the military during the Viet Nam War--old white guys riding Harleys. (We can say that as old white folks who were around during that war.)  Others are vets of more recent military actions. This is just a small part of the crowd.

We learned the group had left California yesterday. Riders travel several different routes. Winslow is along the Central Route. The ride is very organized. We saw men and women directing the traffic and parking here, as well as lots of signs on sleeves and windshields indicating various teams helping everything go smoothly.

Riders sported patches showing the motorcycle group and which Run for the Wall events they had participated in or ridden the whole way.

There were trailers full of snacks and beverages for the riders to consume during their break here.

The men and women who have fought for our country and our freedom and for freedom in other parts of the world deserve our respect and gratitude. It was inspiring to see so many people who are really aware of the debt we owe these folks and who are willing to take their time to demonstrate that to others for Memorial Day.

In case you are wondering why we are still here at the Flying J in Winslow, the new shipment of parts for our RV arrived late yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately, one part is missing. So we wait while someone drives to Flagstaff to pick up the part from NAPA--apparently the closest place that had the part in stock. We sure hope it is the correct part and we are back on the road by the end of the day.