How to Spend Memorial Day

This post is inspired by a prompt from Reflections of a Mother's Heart

The prompt was "Did you attend family reunions? Share memories from one."

The Hukill Family Reunion

Every year, we traveled down to SE Ohio on Memorial Day to meet up with my dad's family. This was his mother's side of the family. They had been keeping this tradition for years, really generations. It still happens today, though the crowd has dwindled and they meet at a church instead of the farm.

We would load up in our "Rambler" and take the long drive. If you've ever been in SE Ohio, then you know that it's a pretty hilly country. I don't think there was a year when one or more of us didn't get a little nauseous on the ride. [More rambler memories, click here]

But we finally arrived close enough to drive through the small towns. Usually, we would get  caught in a parade. After all, it was a holiday. We never saw any of the parades, just had to stop and wait for them to open the road again.

It was all  worth the ride when we arrived at Aunt Julia's farm. First, we went into the house to be squeezed and hugged by all our aunts, uncles, and my great grandmother, Birdie Moody. Such a precious lady with long gray hair wrapped up in a bun on her head. She called everyone of us girls "Susie". Not sure why, but maybe cause the youngest of us cousins was named Susie and that's the one she remembered. Or maybe it was just her name for beloved grandchildren... who knows.

The next place we headed, was out back. Now I'm pretty sure that the house had indoor plumbing by this time, but we were fascinated by the outhouse in the back yard. Thinking back, I'm not sure why that would be a fascination. ha!

That little girl is me with my mom
at Aunt Julia's place

Oh, the fun we had with cousins, first second and third. It was a great time of fellowship and getting to know each other again. I miss those days. [My kids barely know their first cousins by name.] We're missing out on something good, I do believe.

Then there was the food. Oh my goodness, the food. Back in those days people knew how to cook and we all eat way more than we needed. I'll never forget Aunt Mildred's "dumplings". Different from the dumplings eaten here in the south, they were especially good when doused over mashed potatoes. I'll trying till my dying days to find someone who knows how to make them.

Later in the day, someone would bring out a big 5 gallon tub of ice cream. All of the kids, young and old, would come running for their ice cream cone. There's nothing better than good, ole ice cream to finish off the day.

And this is just a taste, of how Memorial Day should be spent.


What kind of Memorial Day memories do you have?