Today is Memorial Day.

what do you remember?

I remember the touch of my mother’s hand,

my exuberant father,

the feel of my cat’s Balthazar’s long body

draped over my shoulder.

The smell of a peony from this morning,

the shape of my daughter’s back

(she is singing now

and I am remembering song after song

sung for me, with me).

I remember the raucous laughter of

my South Dakota relatives

down on the farm,

the feel of Capprichio’s nose on my lips.

I remember my own dancing,

my own wild heart.

We are supposed to remember

the fallen on this day.

Besides those friends and strangers,

we must remember to

appreciate all of it –

what is here today, just now

one delicious moment at a time.