Butler County Memorial Day ceremony

By: Melissa Mudd

I can no longer see my grandfather anymore. He now resides in Heaven. But I have memories and still hear stories of him to this very day. He was a veteran of WWII. Bill Sturgeon was a good man and loved by so many. He was full of life and always kept a smile on his face. I don’t know much about his stint in the military, but I what I do know is that I am very proud of his service and sacrifice. His life was cut short due to illness like many seem to be these days. His legacy still lives on though. We (my family) have never forgotten him. Papaw and my grandmother had such a sweet love story similar to that of what you only read about in storybooks. When he died she was so lonely and didn’t know how to really function without him. She tried, but her best friend was gone. Mildred (my grandmother) couldn’t phone him and share her life with him like she once did. It didn’t seem to be too much longer after that when mamaw died. It was time for her to go home to be with her best friend.

I am telling you all of this because time is so bittersweet. While attending the Memorial Day program I thought of my papaw. I realized that I still miss him so much. There are times that I wish I could share things with him again. I think that is why I don’t miss a single veteran’s ceremony. I don’t go because it is for work. I go because I know papaw is there looking down on me from Heaven. He is hugging mamaw and they are joined as one again, the way it should be.

To many, the ceremony is just your routine thing to do on Memorial Day, but to me, it is a reunion of sorts. I know it is where I need to be. It is in a way coming HOME.