Flowers Are New but Cheating with Greenery

Richard and I are Catholic, so we celebrate All Saints Day (November 2nd) by cleaning the graves of family members and placing new flowers on each one. We’ve helped his mom to do this for the last several years. I promised her we will continue this tradition as long as we are physically able. Ironically, this first year Richard is unable. His brother stepped up and took care of the Ville Platte relatives and their parents. That left us only the Evergreen family and my family. Additionally, I do the same for my parents, grandparents, and even a set of great-grandparents. It’s something I did with my mom, especially after Alzheimer’s made driving too dangerous for her.

High noon is not the best time to attempt this chore. It was cool while I gathered flowers, fillers, and greenery. I keep bins of all the components to create an arrangement without running to a store. Evergreen does not have many craft stores.

First. we visited mom and dad’s grave, then went to Moreauville to put flowers on my grandparents’ grave. A third arrangement went on my great-grandparents’ and great-uncle’s grave. Yes, all three are buried in the same grave. I can’t explain how that is possible, but it certainly saves on costs. By the time we arrived in Moreauville, the temps had risen into the 90s. We carry the flowers, tools, water, and a broom along. Richard cleans the grave, and I arrange the flowers.

Each grave has a marble vase, so I do a little improv arranging right on the spot. However, I had not packed enough greenery. To compensate, I snagged some of the leaves from the flowers we’d just taken out of the vase, put several together on a wire and placed them below the flowers. They filled the gaps in nicely without showing too much age. Can you tell which one has the reused leaves?

Read about last year’s All Souls’ Day flowers

For a post that explains this Catholic tradition, click this link.