{"id":488,"date":"2015-05-22T06:50:11","date_gmt":"2015-05-22T10:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/?p=488"},"modified":"2015-05-22T01:53:44","modified_gmt":"2015-05-22T05:53:44","slug":"week-36-remembered-always-putting-the-memorial-back-in-memorial-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/?p=488","title":{"rendered":"Week #36 – “Remembered Always…” (Putting the Memorial back in Memorial Day!)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\""Senior<\/a>

“Senior Rock” (photo credit: Grace Church)<\/p><\/div>\n

Week #36 – \u201cRemembered Always\u2026\u201d (Putting the Memorial back in Memorial Day!)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Almost immediately after Rob died, a covert band of brothers (and at least one soul-sister!) hijacked our high school\u2019s \u201cSenior Rock\u201d — a large flat rock that overlooks the student parking lot. \u00a0For decades, it\u2019s been the senior class\u2019 unique privilege to paint the rock with their very own messages. \u00a0I couldn\u2019t tell you what was on the rock before\u2026but what was on it after Rob\u2019s cronies were done will be forever painted on the walls of my memory in signature green, black, and silver:<\/p>\n

#50<\/strong>
\n R. CHURCH<\/strong>
\n HHS \u201992 4EVER<\/strong><\/p>\n

That was in September. \u00a0For eight months the seniors haven’t touched it. \u00a0Even after they\u2019d lost a classmate of their own in February, they let his tribute stand. \u00a0A symbolic half-staff for those of us still remembering.<\/p>\n

I finally got word last week that the senior class — the Class of 2015 — re-claimed their rock for themselves. \u00a0I was thrilled! \u00a0I wanted to take a moment to thank them publicly for allowing Rob\u2019s tribute to stand as long as it did — and for allowing his name\u00a0to watch over them daily as they scraped and clawed, laughed and cried, celebrated and crumbled, and otherwise rode the wave of arguably the single most memorable year of their lives\u2026their last year of high school!<\/p>\n

But most important — it was like raising the flag to full staff. \u00a0It reminded ME of the resilience and resolve\u00a0necessary for life, liberty, and the pursuit of Happyness!<\/p>\n

Memorial Day, for certain, is a day set aside to remember those who died serving our country. \u00a0But before it was called \u201cMemorial Day\u201d — it was called \u201cDecoration Day\u201d because it was a day when families reunited at burial locations to \u201cdecorate\u201d the graves of their fallen. \u00a0And because many people traveled very far to get there — they would relish the opportunity to visit and reconnect with relatives, usually accompanied by a pot-luck or picnic supper nearby.<\/p>\n

So, our modern traditions of family reunions and bar-b-queing are not really that far off — it\u2019s the REMEMBERING that we\u2019re sometimes missing!<\/p>\n

Your assignment for this week: <\/strong>Put the MEMORIAL back in Memorial Day! \u00a0<\/strong>Enjoy your family, the nice weather, and the freedom you have — just remember to REMEMBER! \u00a0This may mean simply raising a flag, bringing a note or flowers to a grave of one who lost his\/her life in service, or writing a name in the sand for all to see. \u00a0You could make a donation, plant a tree, or lay a wreath at the base of a statue. \u00a0Even after the day is past, the flowers fade, or the ocean wipes the shore clean — you never know how long your tribute will stick to the walls of someone else\u2019s memory!<\/p>\n

Thanks to all those who painted the rock — those who let it stand — and those who reclaimed it for the Class of 2015. \u00a0Your memorial is now part of my memory “4EVER”. \u00a0\ud83d\ude09<\/span><\/p>\n

How will you put the MEMORIAL back in Memorial Day?!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Spread Happyness — share your thoughts or ideas in the comments!<\/p>\n

5\/22\/15 by Grace Church
\n<\/em>\u00a9 Grace Church<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Week #36 – \u201cRemembered Always\u2026\u201d (Putting the Memorial back in Memorial Day!) Almost immediately after Rob died, a covert band of brothers (and at least one soul-sister!) hijacked our high school\u2019s \u201cSenior Rock\u201d — a large flat rock that overlooks the student parking lot. \u00a0For decades, it\u2019s been the senior class\u2019 unique privilege to paint […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=488"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":495,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488\/revisions\/495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}