Did you all have a good three day weekend and Memorial Day? This is going to get a little personal, I hope you don’t mind. As a child, growing up, I always looked forward to Memorial Day. School was out by then, and it was like the beginning of summer. And we also had a family reunion of sorts. Every year, my dads parents would invite all the relatives to their house for a breakfast, a breakfast like no other. My siblings and I looked forward to this year after year. When I was older, probably after high school, one of the activities added to the day was going flying with my dad. He had his pilots license and a plane, so going flying became part of the tradition. We also would always go and visit the cemetery to remember those that came before us.
The last few years have been a little different. In 2008 I was living in AZ and traveled to UT during May, so I could be here for my sisters graduation from high school, the memorial day festivities, and just to spend time with my family. About a month before that trip, we found out that my dads cancer had returned. The regular Memorial Day flying didn’t happen that year. The doctors wouldn’t sign off for my dad to pass his physical to fly. My dad did take me and my boys flying another day while we were there, but he wasn’t supposed to. After his battle with cancer, my dad died at the end of 2008. SO, now Memorial Day is a little different for me. I still look forward to the breakfast that my grandparents have every year, but I have mixed emotions going into it. It’s all of my dads family, who I love to see, but it is hard to see his family with out him, they remind me of him so much. We always like to go visit my dad’s grave, and I always try to take something to leave there. This year, I didn’t think about it until Sunday morning, and we were leaving Sunday afternoon to head to my home town. After church on Sunday I put these simple pinwheels together. They are nothing fancy, they don’t even spin, but they have meaning for me.
My dad loved flying!
He was and excavator and worked in construction, so I thought this dump truck was fitting.
He worked hard and had lots of tools.
And he loved to watch and play basketball.
{I pulled out some 8×8 paper for the pinwheels and I used my Cricut to cut out the pieces for the center, and just hot glued everything together and onto a bamboo skewer.}
I hope that you all had a Happy Memorial Day, in whatever way you celebrate it! I’m grateful for those that went before me, and although some may have left this earth too soon, I’m grateful for the example they left for me.
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