It was early morning and Mama had a box filled with flowers she had just gathered from our backyard. She had placed them in tall juice bottles. I was too young to know very much about flowers, but I did recognize the irises as Grandma called them. Daddy put the huge box full of flowers into the car. We all got into the car and drove down the road to pick up Grandma. If she was well enough, she always went with us every year on Memorial Day.

We arrived at Linville Cemetery, a beautiful place with huge old oak trees with branches that seemed to protect the inhabitants of the cemetery. We had relatives buried at Linville and we all got out of the car and walked the short distance to the grave sites.

Everyone was quiet and Mama reminded us to be respectful because we were there to honour those buried in the cemetery. Mama placed some of the flowers on the graves and she and Daddy spoke about some of the relatives and told us children a little about each one. There were many small American flags at the grave sites across the cemetery. Daddy and Mama talked about how those flags were placed there by veteran organizations to honour the soldiers who had served our country, many of them giving their lives to keep our country free.

It is important for us to teach our children and grandchildren the meaning of Memorial Day, so they will know the price that has been paid for their freedom. It only takes one generation of neglect to forget valuable teachings of the past.

【日积月累】

iris n. 鸢尾属植物

Memorial Day 阵亡将士纪念日

cemetery n. 墓地，公墓

inhabitant n. 居民，居住者

veteran n. 老兵，富有经验的人，老手

【参考译文】

自由的代价

清晨的时候，妈妈从后院摘了一箱子鲜花。她把花插在修长的果汁瓶子里。我太小，认识的花还不多，但是我却认得那是鸢尾花，因为奶奶那样叫它们。爸爸把这箱花放进车里。我们全上了车，然后顺着马路开车去接奶奶。如果她身体好，每一年的将士阵亡纪念日她都会和我们一起去。

我们到达林威尔公墓，这是个美丽的地方，树立着魁梧的老橡树，它们的树枝仿佛在保护墓地里的安息者。我们有几位亲戚埋在林威尔，所以我们都下了车，径直走向墓地。

每个人都很安静，妈妈提醒我们要恭敬，因为我们是来向墓地里的人致敬的。妈妈把一些花摆在坟墓上，和爸爸谈起其中几位亲戚，告诉我们一些关于他们的事。公墓里的很多坟墓上都插着小小的美国国旗。爸爸妈妈告诉我们，老兵组织把这些国旗摆放在这，向那些曾经为国效力的战士们致敬，许多人为了祖国的独立献出了生命。

让我们的孩子以及孙子知道将士阵亡纪念日的意义很重要，因为这样他们才知道他们的自由是用什么代价换来的。只要有一代人不小心忽略了，那历史的教训就永远被忘记了。

【人生启迪】

爱国是非常高尚的情操，而最主要的体现就是在对自己祖国历史的熟识。一个否认或忘记自己国家历史的人，实际上就否认了自己。我们不仅要了解祖国的历史，还要从中吸取教训，避免重蹈覆辙。