We went to the local small town 4th of July parade this morning.\u00a0 I love parades.\u00a0 They were a huge part of my life as a military child, the pomp and ceremony is so central to that life.\u00a0 I had forgotten how much I missed that kind of thing.<\/p>\n
Yesterday, my 7 year old asked if she could go to the parade this morning since she\u2019d never seen one.\u00a0 How is that even possible?<\/p>\n
We drove downtown and grabbed a spot to sit on the curb and waited for it all to begin.\u00a0 The children ran and chased each other under the big oak trees in front of the elementary school, the crowd laughed when the sprinklers turned on and doused a huge part of the crowd, and everyone kept glancing up the street waiting for it all to begin.<\/p>\n
The firetruck led the way with it\u2019s flashing lights and chirping siren.\u00a0 The driver stopped long enough for one of the police officers on the route to take his picture. No one minded the delay.<\/p>\n
Then came the veterans proudly carrying our flags.\u00a0 Everyone who was able bodied on the parade route stood in silent respect and the men doffed their ball caps.\u00a0 \u201cStand in honor of the colors, boys,\u201d I heard my husband whisper to our sons.\u00a0 They stood beside him proudly and attention.<\/p>\n
The local Council members and politicians rode by in gaily colored cars and golf carts, waving and shouting, \u201cHappy 4th!\u201d and \u201cGod bless America!\u201d<\/p>\n
It was a typical folksy small town parade, full of symbolism and community.\u00a0 Folks dressed as our founders and rang the Liberty Bell.<\/p>\n
They tossed candy to the children, and handed out stickers and fliers.<\/p>\n
Near the end of the parade came the Star Wars Costume Society.\u00a0\u00a0 What parade could be complete without without an intergalactic bounty hunter or two?<\/p>\n
The tail end was another firetruck, and then the whole of the group that had been watching the parade.\u00a0 As the truck passed them, they gathered their belongings and joined in the march, waving hands and flags and greeting friends, neighbors and strangers.<\/p>\n
We were all the parade, spectators and entrants alike.\u00a0 We were all America, and celebrated it together.<\/p>\n
We went to the local small town 4th of July parade this morning.\u00a0 I love parades.\u00a0 They were a huge part of my life as a military child, the pomp and ceremony is so central to that life.\u00a0 I had forgotten how much I missed that kind of thing. Yesterday, my 7 year old asked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1979,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n