While I ended up sick on Memorial Day itself, the Sunday afternoon that we decorated graves for the Smith grandparents, my mom, a Childs family ancestor, and the Smith aunts and uncles in the Evergreen Cemetery, was a good day. (Jim also has an ancestor buried nearby.)
Many hands made short work of the weeding and clean-up. Shawn had brought some gas-run garden tools which helped. The plots looked lovely when we were done.
We ended up having a tailgate picnic at roadside where my Smith family is buried.
Toren warned us that we should not eat at the cemetery. He said it was just not a good idea so he sat in the car after the decorating was done.
However, the other members of his family did join in. They had not received the memo that there would be a picnic so they mostly had dessert. The Jones and Howards did eat and they all remained well and healthy in spite of Toren's warning. There were others there who also had picnics near other plots. I don't know how they fared. Shawn ended up being ill. I did fine until the next day when the bladder infection I had got much worse.
Your dad's father (Henry) always told him to never take anything away from a cemetery because it was not good to do so. LHT and I had quite a discussion about the time I brought some sod pieces I had dug up and put them on the north side of our house. No one ever told me not to eat there. I think, however, that my relatives would not have an objection. They all liked picnics, to the best of my recollection. We certainly had enough of them as I was growing up.
When we used to decorate graves when I was a child, we would always end up at Uncle Fred and Aunt Pearle's house. There we would have a backyard picnic, if the weather was good. They had a wonderful backyard--green lawns and wonderful bushes. We would always have a wonderful time.
I give you all permission to have a picnic near my grave when I have joined the Smiths in that spot.
