Hello God. It's me, Mara

You know, Lord, Memorial Day is around the corner. Long ago, most folks called that day Decoration Day. Finding a long-forgotten poem, memories of times of yore crossed our mind; sometimes our family did nearly the very same thing. Mom didn’t use fruit jars, but we’d bundle up garden and/or prairie flowers to decorate family graves. Poem of Lilacs and Fruit Jars follows. The author is unknown.

“T’was almost Decoration Day, foll’wing a Spring so cold and gray. Where are the splendid blooms of May? There’s nothing blooming bright and gay. As usual, Mother had a clue, and knew just what it was we...