Memorial Day

Memorial Day

Noel Laflin

5-27-19

When I was little we would scramble for the spent brass casings ejected from rifles fired in salute to the fallen at Memorial Day ceremonies. As the soldiers were kind, they would turn a blind eye and let us keep our shiny souvenirs, still warm in our hands.

If the sun would break through the usual late May overcast – or even if it did not - we would swim in a neighbor’s pool while the adults kept an eye on both us and the barbecue, drank adult beverages, and swapped war stories. I can still hear their laughter and sometimes even the silence.

All of those adults, those who fired the rifles as well as the parents that cooked, watched over children swimming, and swapped war stories, now lie quiet in those same cemeteries that we once traveled to every Memorial Day.

I miss the laughter and now reflect mostly upon the silence.