One of the greatest gifts that anyone has ever given me was the job of placing American flags beside the graves of veterans on Memorial Day at the Boyd cemetery.

Mr. R.J. “Jr.” Williams, an air force veteran and retired rural mail carrier, gave me this job when my first son Lane was only months old. At first I thought he just didn’t want to come back from his fishing trip at Lake Texoma, the fish were really biting, but when he gave me my orders I knew he had more in mind.  "Get it done early and take that boy with you” he commanded. I got the job done just as he had ordered. It must have been to his satisfaction for when he returned from Texoma on Monday he looked at flags and said "your hired, now pick’em up".

Every year since, my wife and I have taken our children with us to repeat the process. We have found it to be a terrific opportunity to talk with our kids about the sacrifices others have made. It is amazing to hear the questions kids ask. "Who were these people?”, “How did they die?”, “Why did we have a war?”, these are all common questions, but the answers you give teaches volumes to the kids. They also teach you something about yourself.

This has become a family tradition for the Wilson family.  It is a day we look forward to, both kids and adults,  and it has grown to include families of several of our friends who have young children. I hope they get the same blessings from it that we do. I encourage anyone with children to join us or start their own tradition at a cemetery in their area. We all owe a debt to these Veterans, and this is a small thing to do in remembrance of their sacrifice. The experience will bring your family closer together and honor these men and women who made freedom possible here and around the world. The Wilson family Boyd, Texas U.S.A. 

Jr. was there with us every Memorial day until his death on July 4th 2008. We miss him.