French Families Adopt U.S. Graves

In the spirit of Memorial Day NPR reported on a non profit that focuses on a French organization that adopts graves of American servicemen who died during Normandy of World War II. The group encourages families to put flowers on the graves when it is difficult for the American families to visit.
NPR

I found a few other organization that do similar adoptions:
The Highland Road Cemetery
Located in Hampshire, England, the Highland Road Cemetery encourages adoptions of their graves. Maintenance may include as minimal work as removing weeds to keeping the lawns surrounding the graves trimmed.
Highland

USS Arizona Historian
Created for the soldiers who fought in Pearl Harbor, Ray Emory, chief historian, developed a program in Hawaii "which would encourage anyone - anyplace - to pay tribute and to recognize those who made the ultimate sacrifice." By visiting the USS website Arizona historical information website , those interested in adopting a gravestone can choose a specific grave that they would like to adopt and make arrangements with the florist on the website or choose their own florist.

Hillside Cemetery
Located in Middle town, New York this cemetery developed a program to install new markers that have been destroyed over time to remember the soldiers who died during the Civil War. The cost for each marker installation is $75. and that is the cost of adoption. The new markers will be located directly in front of the old worn one to not disturb the history of the cemetery.
Hillside

Flowers on Memorial Day

A few weeks ago on a late night run for burritos I was sitting in the car with Daniel and Katie. In between greasy fries and a large strawberry soda, some how we got into a conversation on how nothing brings us to tears more than NPR. Katie said the stories on the Earthquakes in China had really made her tear up, for me it was always the stories about loved one's doing exceptionally kind things for each other. A few days ago I was driving to work listening to the radio on a drowsy friday morning. I overheard a story about a man whose father collects coffee cans to fill with fake flowers. He gives the gifts to dead loved one's every Memorial Day. Being a avid collector of random everyday objects this story perked my interest. The moment that choked me up came towards the end of the story. The man explained that his father gave these flowers to people who had made a difference in his life. His father said, "Well, we were poor and we didn't have anything. And when I needed to learn how to drive a car, Mr. Torpey taught me how to drive a car, and when I had to have a car to go on a date ... Mr. Torpey would loan me his Buick.' " Though he could not say it in person, every year he brought flowers to say thank you.
NPR