This morning Becky and I went over to Holy Cross in Collinsville for the 8 o’clock service. It’s always good to see some familiar faces and receive a warm welcome. Attendance was light, but there was two- row- school group from the Green Bay area, present.  Dale and Diane Meyer were also there.  I told Kyle Wright, the pastor, that Dale and I were checking up on him.  He didn’t seem alarmed at the presence of his august predecessors.

The service opened with Herb Brokering’s hymn, “Alleluia! Jesus is risen!”  It continues, “Trumpets resounding in glorious light! Splendor, the Lamb, heaven forever! Oh, what a miracle God has in sight!”  Notice that each phrase is punctuated with an exclamation mark.  Jesus resurrection is big news and if we haven’t gotten the message yet, the chorus follows, “Jesus is risen, and we shall arise: Give God the glory! Alleluia!”  Ah, there is the punch line.  Jesus arose from the dead and so shall we. That’s worth another exclamation mark, Alleluia!   

Becky and I may run down to DeSoto tomorrow morning to visit the Blank family plot in the City Cemetery.  Her grandparents, parents, and brother are buried there, plus others, including a great uncle who was a soldier during WWI and died during the war or shortly after.  We haven’t been there for several years.

Growing up, Memorial Day seemed to be marked with a visit to the Pipe Lake cemetery, the Indianapolis 500, and a morning – afternoon doubleheader between the St. Paul Saints and the Minneapolis Millers.  It seems to me that it was a day when players tried to hit home runs, if not in the Majors, then in Triple A.

I suppose I could add the camping outing to Helmer Myre state park in Albert Lea, MN one Memorial Day.  We got one of the last spaces in a depression.  It rained over night and we opened the door the next morning to discover we were in a pond.  Lots of memories camping.  Not all of them lovely.