Pomp and Peonies

Pomp and Circumstance plays.  Graduates walk down the aisle.  Parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters, friends and loved ones look on, alternately smiling and holding back tears.  How did we get here?  Where did the time go?

In the background, every year, in almost perfect sync, ants lend a hand and the peonies peel open their petals to offer that fleeting, fresh, sweet scent.  The one that’s so delicate yet so powerful that we remember it fondly, if not exactly.

Pomp plays and the peonies come out.  Together they herald that bittersweet and hopeful time of year when we recognize the accomplishments of those who have achieved them.  We laugh and recall the people and moments captured in photos and discuss plans for new life experiences.  Gyms and cemeteries alike fill with warm beating hearts. We come together as communities to remember the individuals that made our past meaningful and the present possible, and to celebrate and encourage those who give us hope for the future.

To memories and to futures and to the heroes and loved ones that make our everyday moments special, Happy Memorial Day!