Memorial

This is Memorial Day weekend in the USA. While we remember armed forces personnel fallen in the line of duty to this country, many families also gather this weekend to celebrate ancestors and heritage. In Laura's family, there is a place that holds special significance in the history of Texas and its settlement. A very rural community in Milam County is marked by a Methodist Church and a cemetery. It is called Friendship.

On the first Saturday in June, descendants of early settlers to this area gather to remember their family members and have a memorial church service. A large pot-luck meal follows the worship service in the attached Fellowship Hall. From the porch of the hall, you can see the cemetery.

The cemetery is where the stories are told. On my first trip to Friendship over 40 years ago, my mother-n-law Loyce McCarson Ogle walked me through the cemetery with a printed guide and her childhood memories. Cousins, uncles and aunts, a brother shot down in the Korean conflict, her mother's lineage (which is important) in this cemetery containing now as many as ten (10) generations from those original settlers. Each family has its own unique stories. The one common denominator - a group of people who called themselves Methodist and a persevering faith in God and love for their neighbors.

Laura and I hope to make the drive to walk the grounds this Memorial. We won't be able to join the family reunion but we will make our pilgrimage to an important place of our history.

Along the Way
​Paul
 

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