Decoration Day was a name prevalent in the South in the years after the Civil War. Widows, children and survivors would go to decorate the graves of those killed in the war, hence the name "Decoration" Day. It was known as Memorial Day in the North, and was expanded to be a day of remembrance for not only the war dead, but all our forebears and loved ones.

I went with Dad on Friday, and we planted flowers at my mother's grave, my brother and sister who died as infants, my grandparents and his grandparents (my great-grands), and several beloved (great) aunts and uncles.