Every Memorial Day for the past 14 years my husband and I have risen at dawn and made our way to the Over the Mountain Burial Ground in West Suffield (OTM) to watch the Marquis of Granby. We first entered the hallowed grounds 15 summers ago to consider final resting spots for our daughter and Marquis member, Jacky, and ever since the Marquis has kept vigil with us.
As Granby anticipates its first Memorial Day in decades without the Marquis, I want to share an early morning moment at OTM on Memorial Day 2021…
As we watch, the Marquis honor guard—three fifers, a snare drummer and a flower bearer—forms at the fence, sparking a memory of driving by this same fence years earlier when Jacky was six. I recall her looking out the window and asking, “Is this where the Memorial Day parade starts?” Although young in age, Jacky was already a veteran of multiple East Granby Memorial Day parades. The twinkle in her eye told us that she knew this small, ancient burial ground was not the step-off location, and for years afterward, every time we drove by OTM someone in the family echoed her jest inquiring, “Is this where the Memorial Day parade starts?”
I return from my reverie as the Marquis honor guard high-steps in our direction playing Merry Men Home From the Grave. They arrive and settle into a semi-circle behind Jacky’s stone. As the fifes and snare launch into God Save the King the flower bearer steps forward and solemnly places a red, white and blue bouquet. Images drench me as the truth soaks in. Jacky knew: thanks to the Marquis, this is where every Memorial Day starts.
With great gratitude… Huzzah!