The Decoration

Every year on the fourth Sunday of May we travel to Finger, TN for "The Decoration". I'm not sure if other parts of the country do this as well but here in the south its also called "Homecoming" because this is the day when even the people who moved away come back to visit. I have been doing this my entire life, or at least as long as I remember. Now I do it with my children.

My great grandfather Albert Plunk helped build a very small Methodist church in Finger a very long time ago. It was there that he was a preacher and filled the small chapel every Sunday. Some days, especially on "Homecoming" people would even stand in the open windows to hear his sermons or the hymns. Afterwards they would have "dinner on the grounds" which is a pot luck dinner outside on make-shift tables stretching across the church yard.

At the decoration we go back to that same small church that my great-grandpa built. Even though we don't share the same faith, on that day we participate in the traditions of my family. It starts with a sermon from the preacher. Afterwards is the "dinner on the grounds". This potluck dinner could easily feed a group 3 times as many as are in attendance. It includes good southern favorites like fried chicken, butter beans, fresh veggies, pecan pie, and cornbread dressing. If you're lucky, you might even come across some fried Bologna or okra.

After the dinner we gather back in the chapel for "the singing" or what most of us call around those parts "the sangin'. (Macy and my niece Carly pictured above during the singing. They love sitting on those old pews together) Together we sing classic old hymns. There are also volunteers to sing solo or with a small group. Some people play the guitar or maybe another musical instrument. My mom's cousin Retha is always playing the antique piano. Just hearing the sound of that old piano almost seems to take me back in time. We always marvel at her talent. I love hearing the twang in the voices of these people expressing their love for God and the Savior.

Across the street from the old church is the cemetery where the graves are decorated on this special day. Many of my relatives are buried there including my great grandpa Albert and great grandma Ollie. Their graves sit under a little awning. Behind them is the grave of Buford Brock and will someday be my grandmother June Brock or "Nanny". Buford was only my grandfather by marriage but I loved him like my own.

When we leave the old church we drive about a mile down the country road to an old house that my great-grandparents once lived with their children. The extended family gathers together to visit.

Here is Nanny tickling Lucas' nose as they sit in the porch swing on that old porch. Tyler is sitting beside Lucas and my niece Georgia is examining her chicken leg.


Wade, Lucas and Riley enjoying the porch.

Gage, Tyler, and nieces Jenna and Carly playing in the yard.

What a great day! I am so grateful for the heritage that I have. I am thankful for my family and our southern roots. I love that my kids get to take part in that, even for just a day. They get to sit in an old church that has so much family history. Sit on the pews that their ancestors sat on and sing songs that have been sung for generations. They get to meet extended family that they would normally never meet and play with them in the yard of a home where their great- grandmother was raised. They can sit in a porch swing with her and make memories with her. I wouldn't have it any other way.