Today is Memorial Day, a day of remembrance and honor. We spent the day in Senoia, a small town not too far from us that throws a big Memorial Day hoohah in their three block downtown. It was small town Americana at its best: hot dogs sold by Boy Scout troops, ice cream churned by church groups, all kinds of vendors, pony rides and those inevitable bothersome clowns.
But the highlight of the day was the parade. It was led off by a police cruiser and a fire truck, followed by all manner of vehicles and people. There was a small army marching band, a color guard, cart loads of veterans from WWII, Korea and Vietnam, local military personnel home on leave, little girls twirling batons and, of course, Shriners.
It was schmaltzy and cute and patriotic and touching and fun and everything that is good about small towns and true patriotism wrapped up in one day. There were no politicians mouthing platitudes nor was there any kind of loud, "aren't we superior" boasting; it was just simple people showing their pride and gratitude in a pure, kind, loving way.
It was a good day - a good day to wave the flag, to wipe away a tear or two, to smile at cute children. All that was missing was the ubiquitous beauty queen. This is Georgia, for goodness' sake - there should always be a beauty queen!
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