In my thoughts

 I woke up this morning with my sister on my mind. Today is her birthday, although she has celebrated her last. Those of us that knew and loved her are here to celebrate for her. Her birth and life will never go unappreciated or uncelebrated. This is the first year I haven't been able to mail a card or call on the phone. That isn't to say I always did so, we all have a way of letting dates slip by us. Yes, there were years when I failed to do either. Still, there was never a year I didn't think of her on her birthday and they say it is the thought that counts. Thing is, it only counts for ourselves, a form of self therapy I suppose. But I believe she knows my thoughts this day just as surely as if I where to speak to her on the phone. I need to believe that, to have a measure of comfort. 

 As I thought of my sister this morning I could see the place of her internment. She was cremated and her ashes placed in a vault. It is high up off the ground, so high you can't touch it. This place is located in Florida, the state in which she was born, and the one in which she died. Many years in between those events where not spent in Florida. She and I were raised on Long Island in the state of New York. She married an Air Force man and traveled with him around the world. After his retirement she did settle in Florida raising her children there. That she should pass there could be viewed as serendipity. I'm certain she wasn't seeking that, it was unexpected, unplanned for sure. 

 I feel a bit of sorrow that I can't visit that place this day. I would like to stand before her and place a rose in memory. Oh, I suppose I could have had one delivered but it wouldn't be the same action. At least that is what I tell myself. I rationalize that I need no reminder, no marker, to remember her. On the other hand it would be a comfort. And isn't that the reason we leave these markers in the first place? We place these markers to preserve the memory of those we loved beyond on own memory. A name recorded in stone, or in her case, bronze. In memoriam, means in memory of. It is an expressive word that holds so much emotion, so much meaning, in a condensed form. It conveys the knowledge that this person has departed this world. 

 As all those thought traveled through my mind an idea came to the forefront. What if each cemetery, each graveyard, contained a universal marker. What I'm thinking is a stone, perhaps an obelisk, with just two words on it, In Memoriam. It contain no indication of race, creed, national origin, gender, age, or anything else, just the words, In Memoriam. It would serve as a place to go and place that rose or whatever remembrance you wish. I can't travel to Florida this day but I could travel to the nearest cemetery. It would serve as a sort of surrogate memorial. Is that just a sentimental thought? Perhaps but I'm thinking not a bad one. 

 Happy Birthday Millie. You are the only sister I ever had, and the only one I ever needed. I miss you.