Memorial Day for Americans is a three day weekend break away from work...for many workers.  It has become a time to take a long weekend and celebrate whether in town or out of town.  There are some more serious roots to this "holiday" for it was meant to be a day to honor the dead...those that fought in the wars on behalf of the United States of America.  And now in many ways it has been expanded to be a weekend of remembrance of those that we have loved that have transitioned before us.

Today while on the drive to visit both my parents graves as well as my sister's grave, I momentarily was listening to Sarah Brightman singing "Wishing you were somehow here again..." on the car sound system.  The words from this "Phantom of the Opera" song seemed so appropriate that I am including them on this post:

"Wishing you were somehow here again,
Wishing you were somehow near.
Sometimes it seemed if I just dreamed,
Somehow you would be here.

Wishing I could hear your voice again,
Knowing that I never would.
Dreaming of you won't help me to do,
All that you dreamed I could!"

Thank you Andrew Lloyd Weber for these poignant words.  As I gaze at these pictures, I wish that somehow they were here again...and wishing I could hear their voices again.

Thankfully their voices, their faces, the laughter shared...is anchored in my mind, heart and soul...and as I am typing this...I am hearing their voices once again.

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Here in the northwoods spring comes slowly and reluctantly.  Yet when it arrives it is glorious for it arrives with a cacophony of color as well as a cacophony of sound.  Flowers bloom and birds sing.  While the eye settles on the latest freshest flower to emerge the ear is blessed with the songs of robins, warblers, finches...and even Canadian Geese.  As the soft spring air ushers in through the open French door, I now know that I want to fill my cup with fresh coffee, sit on the porch, and revel in the embrace of this wonderful day. 

I leave with you this wonderful Robert Frost poem:

A Prayer in Spring

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day; 
And give us not to think so far away 
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here 
All simply in the springing of the year. 

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night; 
And make us happy in the happy bees, 
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees. 

And make us happy in the darting bird 
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill, 
And off a blossom in mid air stands still. 

For this is love and nothing else is love, 
The which it is reserved for God above 
To sanctify to what far ends He will,
But which it only needs that we fulfil. 

Those of you that may or may not pay attention to my posts, know that WA Frost & Co is one of my favorite restaurants. That said, I have another favorite too that fits in a busy day of errands: Jake's City Grille. Today I had a wonderful lunch that started out with a Sangria Cocktail, Asian chicken salad, and then rhubarb crisp & ice cream with a delicious cup of coffee. I am so full tonight that I just may skip dinner! ​