It's a Southern thing....

I was at Mom's by 8 this morning ready to work in the yard. I saw her put a huge pan of dressing in the oven and wondered why she was doing that. Then.......duh! It dawned on me that today is "Graveyard Working Day". That is an old tradition where the oldtimers took their rakes and hoes twice a year to the graveyard and cleaned it.....thus the name. Everyone brought food and had dinner under the trees. Now, no one has to hoe and rake because someone mows the cemetery, but tradition continues and food and flowers are brought. I always take Mom to this event because she cannot do it by herself anymore. She can't even walk out to the gravesite and place flowers on the graves of her parents and grandparents. I guess the next time she goes out there will be in a casket. My brother, his wife, and I will all be buried there as well. I worked in Mom's yard a little while, then had to go back to my home and shower, then go back and take her and Dad to the cemetery.