Just when I thought Utah couldnt get any more weird. Memorial Day 2010 was unlike any other for me. Normally days like that mean i get to stay in bed, horribly hungover from the day/night before. However since i live in the lameshine state at the moment, there would be no such thing. Instead my Sunday was replaced with 8 hours of boring work and my hangover with a ride to the beautiful city of Ogden, where I'd be in for quite a spectacle. And what a spectacle it was. At none other than, THE CEMETARY.
Now, I know that Memorial Day is all about honoring the dearly departed. Especially those that have served our country. And I have known a few, and I have remembered them on a daily basis, and I did remember them this day. So this blog isnt to offend anyone. It is to find humor in the situation that was posed. As one of the graves I visited was my stepdads, and I KNOW he would have got a kick out of what was going on just 6 feet above his resting place.
Because my stepdad is buried there, the Ogden Cemetary is one that I have frequented over the years. But never on Memorial Day. As we exit the freeway my mom pulls into a line of cars about 100 long
this is the line to ENTER!!!
Half an hour later we finally make it in, recieve a map from some old lady who looks days away from being here permanantly, and we begin to search for parking.
This is where it really gets weird.
Yes ladies and gents, that is a concession stand. at the cemetary. offering a variety of cupcakes, chips and soft drinks.
I couldnt believe it. But i couldnt ignore it. So i grabbed a cupcake and a diet coke. Just like the fatties that order no mayo, extra ranch. irony
Now speaking of cupcakes, As i stated in my previous blog, i attended a show of a friends band just a few days prior to my cemetary adventure. As i was getting ready this morning, i though, "OOH! ill wear my new shirt"
Picture me now, walking through a cemetary sporting a shirt that reads, DEAD COUNTRY. wow kami, way to state the obvious. The only thing that could have been more awkward would have been if I wore one of Mike's, MURDERLAND . . .
So as we continue to walk through, i am baffled by the party that is going on, bands playing, old cars parkin, and not parking on the street mind you, cars were actually parking ON THE GRASS!!!
like WTF, its bad enough people are unloading picnic baskets and kids are playing tag, and now cars who cant find parking are just pulling up on the grass. CRIPES. i think ill be cremated, thanks!
eventually we find my stepdads grave, amongst all the morman muffins and french braids.
we kneel down and clear his headstone, place flowers and i cant help but get a little choked up. for a moment the chaos around me goes silent and its just me and him. i remember his never ending stories, his jokes, his booming voice, his sneezes that would scare me through the roof. and i smile. i know he knows im there and i know he loves it. my thoughts are blurred and i close my eyes, just remembering, and truly feeling that i was beyond blessed to have this man in my life as a father figure for the time i did. i was anything but a good teenager and he handled it like no one could have.
my meditative state is then shattered when my grandma leans down, drops some roses and says "see ya soon Roger!"
GRANDMA!! does the woman realize what she just said!? like welp, im about to hit it. meet you in the after life. geez. the older you get . . .
we walked back to the car and i couldnt help but talk about all these people, laughing crying, eating, all at the cemetary. it was so strange to me. and my mom looks over at me as a i snap a shot of a band, and says "youre the one in a dead country tee taking pictures on an iphone, whos the real creep here"
point taken.
love you Roger. miss you everyday
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