by Nancy Linenkugel
Contributor
A colleague returned to work following foot surgery and it was great to welcome him back. Without crutches or a cane, he hobbled around sporting a hardshell white "boot" that immobilized his lower leg, ankle and foot. He got around pretty well, given the relatively recent surgical procedure, but the boot was oversized and so his trousers didn't cover the boot but were stuffed inside of it.
Gathering around, we all delighted to have him back, and he was equally glad to be back.
"I was getting tired of the indoors and looking at four walls. Good grief, some of those walls could use a new coat of paint and that's just more work — for my wife," he quipped.
As the group dissipated leaving only Tom and me to chat, he said, "Seriously, it's great to be back."
I said, "It's great to have you back, Tom. We missed you. It looks like you're getting around quite well, so I see only one problem."
"What's that?" he asked warily.
"Well, it's not Memorial Day yet and you really shouldn't wear white before then," I explained, pointing to his boot. Then we both erupted in a gale of laughter.
Yes, Memorial Day has become the unofficial start of summer and thus of wearing light summer fashions. My mom always referred to it as "Decoration Day" and made sure that she had pots of hardy red geraniums to adorn each relative's grave that we visited on that day. I went along every year as we slowly rolled the station wagon down the narrow cemetery roadways to find the Wahl family section. She knew exactly how to wind her way deep into the park-like cemetery and pulled up perfectly right next to the targeted graves.
"We always get red flowers," I remember commenting once to mom.
"Yes. It's Decoration Day," mom would respond. "Red flowers show up better against the green grass and granite grave markers. Besides, people who died in military service shed their blood. That's a lesson for us," she added as she lovingly placed another flower pot just so.
[Nancy Linenkugel is a Sylvania Franciscan sister and chair of the department of Health Services Administration at Xavier University, Cincinnati Ohio.]