Remembering....

Today is Memorial Day so like many in the United States, we all have the day off!  Many in Oklahoma still call it Decoration Day, most of us also decorate graves.  I didn't go this year but both sides of the family decorated graves of all the grandparents.  My grandparents are buried within a mile in the same town, one set in the National Cemetery, my grandfather was in the navy,  and one set in the town cemetery.  My husbands grandparents are buried in the same cemetery, out in the middle of nowhere.  Many people in Oklahoma decorate graves and have family reunions this weekend.

We decided, well I decided at least, that last night, we'd take a picnic and go to the lake in town.  Our little Claremore Lake is quite a jewel for our town.  It is so pretty and well taken care of.  The town has built a walking path around it and is is clean and nice to walk in the evening.  It is usually very busy with families, both old and young, taking advantage of the pretty view and level paths.  We stopped and bought some chicken to round out the meal of baked beans and oriental slaw that I made. 

The kids took their bikes and after eating, they took off on their bikes while hubby and I walked around the lake taking in the scenery.  After my son and daughter had a falling out over a bike chain, she started walking with us.  I had splurged on some store bought cookies for our picnic and we were talking about the kind I bought.  They are iced oatmeal, my husbands favorite store bought cookies.  My daughter started talking about them.....

'We always had those cookies at night before bed.  You would put three on each plate and we had a glass of milk.  Dad would bring the plates and set them on our tv trays and we could watch cartoons for thirty minutes.  Oh yeah, you'd sing some song about milk and cookies!  After we finished watching our cartoons, it was time for bed.  You'd either read to me or dad would read to me and the other one would read to bubby.' 

It amazed me that she would remember something so normal.  This was not a big, fancy vacation or a monumental moment in her life....this was just normal life.  She gave me a great look into what she would remember about her childhood, what she would take on with her when she became a mother.  Milk and cookies, cartoons and books before bed.....it seemed like such a simple thing back then....I didn't realize it would make into big time memories!