Remembering—Memorial Day 2022

The first Memorial Day I remember was as a first or second grader in Siren, Wisconsin. We were given flags and taken to the cemetery. We watched as the uniformed veterans stood proud and brave for a 21 gun salute. My dad Rev. William Fredrickson, a WW II vet, stood with the other vets. He’d explained why. Back then our people and culture understood the sacrifice. We honored those lost.

While we don’t worship our ancestors, as some cultures do, Memorial Day has expanded to include all our departed loved ones—not only our veterans.

My brother was the youngest of we three siblings. Paul Fredrickson always felt he had to watch over his older sisters. Yet, January 8, 2019, God took him home first. Suddenly Karin and I were two instead of three. We, his wife and our families were devastated at the unexpected loss.

Friday, hubby Keith and I bought a basket of red and white flowers to put on his grave. Yes, my brother and I would argue, sometimes even yell at each other. But we loved each other. He was there in so many ways when I or our family needed him. Flowers seem a small remembrance for a life time of memories.

Miss you, Paul.

Carolyn R Scheidies