Cemetery Decoration Sunday

[AlistarWills]

It’s that time of year again to decorate cemeteries where loved ones are laid to rest. Just wanted to see what traditions and memories of decorations gone by that some of y’all can tell stories about.

 

[Padreruf]

When I lived in Headland, Alabama I would put out the flags around the square early in the morning...

 

[alabama mike1]

Decoration is not observed in the north like it is in the south. Cemeteries here use Memorial Day weekend for "decoration."

 

[AlistarWills]

Decoration is not observed in the north like it is in the south. Cemeteries here use Memorial Day weekend for "decoration."

Interesting. Did not know that.

 

[Ole Man Dan]

As a veteran of DECORATION DAYS at little country churches...
Most also try to combine some version of
DINNER ON THE GROUND. I've attended when a Summer Storm came up real quick. Many families try to clean around the graves the week before.

 

[BamaMoon]

Grew up going to "decorations" on several different Sundays around Walker Co., Alabama. We'd go to church Sunday morning and then drive over to the cemetery, usually located adjacent to another church. Sometimes there would be "dinner on the ground" and some kind of singing service while people just milled around the cemetery looking at loved ones' graves as they visited with one another. It was kinda like a family reunion in many ways.

I kind of detested these days as a young boy because I would have preferred being at home doing what I wanted to do, but these days are now ingrained as a good memory as many of them have passed away and the ones who remain I rarely get to see.

 

[Padreruf]

These cultural "rituals" bound us together as a society in more ways than we can imagine. Thanks for reminding me...

 

[BamaMoon]

These cultural "rituals" bound us together as a society in more ways than we can imagine. Thanks for reminding me...

It's anecdotal, of course, but I think the loss of these rituals that kept us plugged in to "family" has weakened the family overall as we have become a much more mobile society.

My two siblings and I have lived hours apart from each others for the last 20 years. We only get together at Thanksgiving or Christmas and sometimes around the 4th of July with our parents and even then it's really hard to get everyone there.

Both of my parents, on the other hand, lived within just a few miles of all of their siblings, which made family gathers so much easier.

I think the "family" in America has suffered from isolation from other family members. Traditions like Christmas gathers, Thanksgiving, getting together for birthdays, etc. are harder and harder to do, especially when you start having your own kids and grandkids and even more so when you live in different states hours from each other.

 

[AlistarWills]

I’ve heard stories of how the whole community would come out on Saturday an clean the cemetery, wash tombstones, and place flowers. It was a community event, people visited and worked side by side. Then Sunday came and as has been mentioned before, people would mill about the cemetery in their Sunday best visiting and admiring the flowers and reminiscing. It wasn’t till I got married till I realized the tradition of going to church where the loved ones are laid to rest.
I feel like more and more graves are being left unattended to. As generations are passing and names are unknown to the younger ones.

 

[BamaMoon]

I’ve heard stories of how the whole community would come out on Saturday an clean the cemetery, wash tombstones, and place flowers. It was a community event, people visited and worked side by side. Then Sunday came and as has been mentioned before, people would mill about the cemetery in their Sunday best visiting and admiring the flowers and reminiscing. It wasn’t till I got married till I realized the tradition of going to church where the loved ones are laid to rest.
I feel like more and more graves are being left unattended to. As generations are passing and names are unknown to the younger ones.

I wonder about the upkeep of these cemeteries in the future.

My wife and I neither are planning to have a grave. We have chosen this, but also it'll keep our children from feeling like they have to tend to a place where we really aren't.

But I certainly see the value of these traditions at the same time!

 

[OakMtn4Bama]

Sunday church dinners had some of the best food I ever had. Families came together to clean cemetery plots because there was no one else to do it. Larger cities' cemeteries might have a grounds crew, but not out in the woods. There is a fading sense of community now, and electronics don't help.