I still get notifications from 911 in Garfield County where I used to live in Colorado. Not that I need them for me, but my brother lives there and I like to keep up with what’s happening. I got a notice yesterday afternoon of yet another accident on I-70 that was blocking the road with no estimated time to reopen. I’ve seen a huge uptick in fatal and near fatal accidents come across my notifications and I began to wonder what on earth was going on. Then, I read a couple of articles that said people who stopped driving or seriously cut back on their drive time during the Covid crisis are actually having to re-learn their driving skills. We get rusty when we don’t practice something. I’ve noticed it in myself and consequently, I’ve backed off the gas pedal a good deal to compensate for my slower response times.
Yesterday’s notice was serious. A semi jumped the rail on an elevated portion of I-70 where it travels through Glenwood Canyon and landed on its top on the eastbound lanes below. Some of those west bound lanes are over fifty feet higher than the eastbound. Traffic has been at a standstill for hours at the time I’m writing this and could be closed for twelve hours or more. In the meantime, hundreds of people are stuck in the canyon…no facilities, dicey cell service. The cars are parked and people are out talking and commiserating with each other over the delay.
More than likely, there’s nothing they can do about it. There’s no place to go. They just have to sit and wait it out. That’s why Coloradans carry an emergency kit in their cars at all times. You don’t know when or where you’re going to get stuck…in a snowstorm, a tornado, a rockslide. Blankets, flashlights, a change of clothing, jackets for layering, energy bars, water, a first aid kit are musts. Heck, these people are going to wish they had a tent! Many of them were heading east to catch planes for the Memorial Day weekend…travel they’ve been desperate to enjoy for over a year. I hope their entire weekend isn’t ruined by this inconvenience. But, most of all, I pray for the health and well being of the driver and that he didn’t land on top of someone else.
Memorial Day isn’t about barbecues and air travel anyway. It is about remembering those who gave their lives in the service of our country. Not to be confused with Veteran’s Day where we thank people who have and are currently serving in the military. When I was a very little girl, I remember family trips to the cemetery in Ravenswood where my dad’s family is buried. We called it Decoration Day, because that’s when we went to the cemetery to decorate the graves of our departed loved ones…military or not.
I used to go to the family cemeteries every time I came home to West Virginia for a visit. I could always find our people because they were buried beneath the biggest tree there. On April 9th, 1991 a derecho came through West Virginia, destroying buildings and houses and countless trees. One such unfortunate victim was the big tree over my family’s graves. The next time I went, I had a hard time finding them without the big tree to guide me.
I knew I had a photo somewhere of the big tree. I figured there was a picture somewhere in the family archives of us when we were little…and therefore the tree would also be smaller. I found this picture when I was going through things to bring home from the farm. It was tucked inside a box of tchotchkes which just goes to prove you need to go through everything before you throw it away or divvy it up. You never know what treasures you may find.
The first picture is of my brother and me on Decoration Day. I remember seeing this picture when I was very young, but haven’t seen it in decades. I am almost certain this is the same tree…some fifty-odd years before the second picture. You can see how big the tree was before the derecho took it out in 1991.
Remember the meaning of this weekend. There are parents missing their children, spouses missing their loves, children longing for their elders. None of us live long without experiencing the loss of a beloved family member. It is our duty to remember them, and to mark the solemn occasion with more than a hotdog and chips.
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“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”
John 15:13 ESV