The first official weekend of the summer season is about to start this weekend with the coming of Memorial Day weekend. Many of us will be enjoying the weekend with BBQ with parades and camping over all a very enjoyable weekend.
I remember ,as a child, how excited I used to get on Memorial . I would be going crazy eating breakfast as fast as I could so that I could get up to the corner where the parade was going to come by and stop at the town memorial. I remember more then once coming out the door and hearing the distant sounds of the drums as they got ready to start and straining to get the first glance of the parade in the distance.
Likely by New York or Boston standards this was small time indeed but it was huge to me. Seemed like every group and club was represented as well as the high school band, but my favorite part was the fire trucks! They would turn on their sirens making a lot of noise above and beyond what was already going on and they would have many players from the little league baseball riding on them as well.
Of course the most somber part of the whole parade was when they would lay a wreath at the memorial say a prayer and play taps while firing off the 21 gun salutes. I didn't understand all of it at that time. I understood there had been a big war, WW2 and that some place called Vietnam was coming to an end, but the whole idea of war and the loss of friends and comrades was something I didn't grasp then. I do now.
So this weekend, as you enjoy your weekend, keep in mind those that gave their lives so that you CAN enjoy your BBQ and the camping. Perhaps take a moment to lay a wreath at a memorial or quietly listen to the mournful sounds of taps as it is played for the fallen, but most of all never forget.
Ignacio
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