Skip to main content

Memorial Day Traditions



When I was growing up, we didn't really have traditions for Memorial Day that I remember. When we lived in Indiana, the ward had a picnic that day and I remember that happening in Wisconsin too. Maybe in Maryland as well. But in Utah, we didn't do much.



Then in May, 1994, my first grandparent died, William Hansen. Scott and I lived in Wisconsin at the time but at that point my parents and siblings started visiting the Provo Cemetery where he was buried. Sometime later, my father discovered that my 2nd great-grandfather was also buried there. 

When Scott and I moved to Utah in 1998, we started going to the cemetery too. We would see my grandfather's grave and then go see the other one for Peter Hansen and his wife. Then later, my sister-in-law Alice, my uncle and grandmother were all buried there. So we would visit all those graves and leave flowers.




One of my favorite memories was when we visited the grave for Peter Hansen and Lincoln, age 6 or 7, noticed a stone that said "PM" on it, probably some kind of marker for a water line. But he didn't know that and asked, "Is a clock buried there?" It was a very innocent and very funny question.







From May 2006

After the cemetery, we would go to a local park and have a picnic with relatives and play games. In the last 10 years or so, we have added a hike to the Y to the morning before the cemetery. It's been a fun tradition to have. The great thing about traditions is that you don't have to decide something new to do. You can just do what you have always done. Of course, you can always do something different. Some years we have traveled and haven't been around for the usual traditions. But having the traditions as a back-up plan is also nice.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Hansen Family Reunion 2024, Thursday afternoon

For lunch on Thursday, Lauren and Kurt made Cafe Rio which was delicious.  On Thursday afternoon, we had free time at the lake. Heidi and Aaron rented a pontoon boat and took people out for rides. This was very popular. Some of us went on the kayaks and/or swimming or just hung out on the beach.

2024 Hansen Family Reunion, Wednesday

Recently we had another Hansen Family Reunion at Bear Lake. We've been having these destination reunions since 2008. There were about 70 of us in attendance. Bruce and Michelle organized the activities and did a good job. I enjoyed myself! Hopefully lots of other people did too. We showed up on Wednesday afternoon and enjoyed a taco salad dinner, served by Neil and Kristie's family. We also worked on two mixer games:  a word search with the names of all 100 Hansen family members as well as a Bingo card that involved finding people with different attributes like recent high school graduation, birthdays in certain months, etc. The word search was definitely the most popular. Also popular was playing Nine-Square and Sandy Pickle (a cross between pickle ball and badminton). Thys and Katrina might have won! After dinner, we had an FHE activity/lesson. Liz had made a book with stories of the first ancestors to join the church. She had selected different stories for us to act out in g...

Hansen Family Reunion 2024, Thursday Evening

 For dinner on Thursday, Mark and JoEllen served us yummy pulled pork sandwiches with chips and coleslaw and fruit salad. Afterwards we took pictures and had our traditional talent show. The 14-year-olds minus Drew Videos follow these pictures: Videos of the talents.   The Bergesons went first: Followed by Neil's and Kristie's family: Bruce and Michelle: The Morris Family: Brian: Kent and Melanie: Kurt and Lauren's family talent: The Fergusons: Mom and Dad (mostly Dad):