Guest Blog: Memorial Day Weekend 2026 by the Dog Walker

There's been a lot going on this week. Mostly because I've been working at Walmart not just to earn money, but I've been going through the hassles of experiencing everyone getting ready for Memorial Day Weekend. We usually go to our ancestors' stones at different cemeteries to deliver flowers, but this year, we did something way different, just because Mom has still been on recovery mode from her recent back surgery.

Throughout Saturday and Sunday, Baby Doll has been cleaning out her bedroom, so that Gamer could use some of that extra paint from the Little Miracles people to paint her room almost the same color as Mom's room. Yes, you've guessed it. I helped Baby Doll move some of the heavy furniture out of her room and to temporally be held in Mom's room. A couple of nights after I get home from work and before bed, I read to Mom some more on the Tennis Shoes Adventures Series while she's working on her Girl Scout quilt sewing. She's really been enjoying the way I read to her and the way I try to understand the main ideas of the stories.

On my days off work, which are Sundays and Mondays, I've been helping with cleaning around the house, like doing the dishes for Mom and taking out the garbage. Plus, I've been in charge of making dinner two days in a row. On Sunday, we were about to do hamburgers, but I only found leftover pulled pork in the freezer. So we had pulled pork sandwiches instead. Crafty and Craftsman stopped by for a visit. After dinner, we played games together.

On Monday, we didn't do much of anything, other than helping each other out. Sport and his girlfriend stopped by for dinner of tuna casserole. Before we ate dinner, some men from the Little Miracles group stopped by to lay a foundation for our newest shed to store our extra bits of furniture and boxes. It made Sport really glad that it's done, because ever since we got back home after the Little Miracles people gave our house a makeover, the garage had been full of a lot of our stuff. Sport always had the garage reserved for his hardware and automotive projects. He's just become like Dad. Even Dad would be so proud of him for walking in his footsteps.

And speaking of Dad, after dinner, it was time for us to go to Dad's stone to drop off a bouquet of flowers and tell each other the great stories about Dad. We admit that every Memorial Day, Dad was always good at telling the family stories of our ancestors from other generations, but Mom figured out that we still had videos of him telling those stories. We played them out and heard his unique voice and silly laugh that we would always remember.

After visiting the cemetery, I took everyone out to Arctic Circle to get ice cream cones as a treat. Even if we don't know for sure, we do believe that Dad is really happy in heaven and that he knows that we always honor him for all the things he taught us. That will definitely be a Memorial Day we'll remember. We miss you, Dad! We can hardly wait to see you again.

P.S. Next year, we'll go back to the tradition of visiting our ancestors' graves.