It's almost time to take Christmas flowers to the cemetery to put on my parents graves. This year I chose white instead of red. My mother loved pretty flowers and I do this in her memory. My sister Susan sent me money to buy these. I place flowers there seasonally, always silk flowers since it's too hot here to put fresh flowers on the graves.
In the south it is a custom to clean the graves in the spring, cut the grass, and put flowers on the graves and it used to be called "Decoration Day" which later became
In the south it is a custom to clean the graves in the spring, cut the grass, and put flowers on the graves and it used to be called "Decoration Day" which later became
Memorial Day. The difference was that everybody's grave was decorated on Decoration Day, not just the veterans. Families would come to the cemetery on a certain day, clean the cemeteries, bring flowers for the graves, and stay for lunch. They don't do this anymore. They buy silk or plastic flowers and leave them all year and hire someone to keep the cemetery clean.
My parents, Lawrence and Ruth Wilson, are buried in a cemetery beside New Ebenezer Baptist Church, between Elba and Opp, AL (grave with white flowers in photo). My paternal great grandfather, James Shorter Grimes, was the first person buried in this cemetery in 1903. Many of my Grimes relatives are buried here, including my paternal grandparents. They are buried along the front rows of the cemetery.
My parents, Lawrence and Ruth Wilson, are buried in a cemetery beside New Ebenezer Baptist Church, between Elba and Opp, AL (grave with white flowers in photo). My paternal great grandfather, James Shorter Grimes, was the first person buried in this cemetery in 1903. Many of my Grimes relatives are buried here, including my paternal grandparents. They are buried along the front rows of the cemetery.
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This is an older cemetery (Grimes-Holland) a few miles away where my great-great grandparents are buried (John William and Julia Garrett Grimes). This photo was taken about 1950. It is located about 5 miles west of Elba. A few years ago my cousin Linda helped me clean the cemetery of vines and brush and we cleaned the tombstones, and had a sign printed . A caretaker has been hired to keep the cemetery clean. I like to take our grandchildren there to show they where their ancestors are buried and to tell them something about them. My maternal grandparents and great grandparents are buried at Liberty cemetery, about 5 miles northeast of New Ebenezer, with another set of great grandparents buried in the Elba City Cemetery. All of my grandparents and great-grandparents are near me!
On the row behind my parents graves is the grave of the last confederate widow, Alberta Martin, who died in 2004. She was buried the same day in June as President Reagan. I remember it was so very hot that day and the mourners attending in Civil War attire almost collapsed from the heat.
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