Two months ago, I stood in the cemetery at the Andersonville National Historic Site in Georgia and looked out at the rows and rows of nearly identical white gravestones. My paternal great-grandfather, G. Oliver Riggs, stood in that cemetery in November 1906 with other members of the 51st Iowa Regimental Band, his cornet to his lips. At the close of a memorial service for Iowa soliders who died in the prison camp at Andersonville, G. Oliver played “Taps.”

Earlier today, I stood in the Northfield Armory, the rain location for the 2015 Memorial Day Tribute to All Veterans. The building was packed with people of all ages, from infant to centenarian, and members of the Northfield High School band provided music for the occasion.

When I returned home on Sunday afternoon after a four-day writing retreat in northern Wisconsin, a gorgeous burled walnut secretary was waiting for me. The piece of furniture had once belonged to my great-grandparents, G. Oliver and Islea Riggs.

My parents delivered it to my house because they are downsizing.
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I did not intend to take an extended hiatus from blogging, but the past seven weeks have been so filled with other to-dos, something had to give. I don’t know why I forget every year, until March arrives, that spring is just as frenetic as fall. Unrealistic optimism?

Our family fit in a 10-day vacation during the last half of March, an epic driving trip to Savannah, Georgia, to visit Louisa, who is nearly done with her first year of studying at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).
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