Monday, May 26, 2014
Home Of The Brave
This special weekend flew by so fast I could hardly catch my breath. It was filled with the usual suspects of beautiful weather....working outdoors to get the deck ready, the flowers planted, the lawn mowed, etc, etc, etc...Then throw in a few graduation gatherings and cookouts just for good measure, or I should say, good eats! However, I never forget what this weekend is really all about. Specifically, today...Memorial Day. I love going to the parade downtown and then to the cemetery for a lovely and usually very touching ceremony to honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. It's also a time to thank all those who served and who are serving to keep America a true "Land of the free, Home of the brave". Thank you all very much. Jack and I took in the parade that was blessed with sunshine, blue skies, a nice breeze in the shade as the temps hit 81 today.
The parade was in honor of WWII Veterans. They arrived on floats,
Motorized scooters
Wheel chairs..sorry this is so blurry, but they were booking down main street! I kid you not!
Some were observing from the sidelines proudly wearing their uniforms.
Vietnam Vets were out in force also.
Many rode in motorcycle groups. It wouldn't be a true parade without others who joined in to honor our servicemen.
Cute cars
Cuties on horseback.
And the unusual, but pretty sweet farm animals...well hello there! After the parade I would have walked over the cemetery as usual, but my knees wouldn't make that trek this year and taking the car was out because of the crowd. We took off for home and enjoyed the rest of our day. I can't let the day pass without thanking my own family members who have served. Last fall when I was home visiting Mom I went down to the park to see the new Veterans garden that was put in to honor all who have served. Mom bought bricks that were engraved with my Dad, brothers and my cousin's names.
Flags were flying and the POW one was at half mast.
The bricks look really nice. It's great to see this garden that's there for all to enjoy and to remember.
My handsome Dad! I hope everyone took time out to give honor and thanks this weekend. I must throw this in to end my post. Guess who chose this weekend to make an appearance?
Our little Robin family...welcome guys!
My son Phil, his girls and one of their little friends wanted a fire tonight so we gathered the wood, the marshmellows, and the bug spray to enjoyed the final hours of a long weekend.
Sweet dreams everyone!
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15 comments:
What a delightful and typical Memorial Day. I loved it. Ours was tragic. Sad things happened.
I loved the picture of your little one.
Hello, dear YaYa! Thank you for showing pictures of your Memorial Day activities. I shudder to think how many Americans enjoy having the day off, attending cookouts and pool parties but forget the real meaning and purpose of the holiday and the heroes it was intended to honor. I'm very happy it didn't rain on your parade and I wish to thank the members of your family who served and all the men and women of our nations Armed Services who sacrificed so that we might all enjoy the freedom we have today.
That's a terrific image of your father. He was indeed a handsome man! I am also delighted to see the robin hatchlings. I'm glad you got that excellent shot of them before they sprout wings and fly away. It's also nice of you to post the pic of Phil and the girls along with Eddy who appears to be doing his usual thing - milling around looking for dropped goodies in the grass.
I also want to tell you how much I appreciate the fact that you stayed up late to comment on my blog. I know you must have been tired and sleepy. That was a marvelous gesture of friendship and I know you warmed Chi Chi's heart with your generous remarks.
Good news on the Margaret Schneider front. She is doing better and apparently does not have pneumonia. There is much for which we can all be thankful this day. Have a week, dear friend YaYa!
I'm always in awe of how you celebrate every event to the Max. You are really an inspiration.
I can see why this means so much to you to remember those who have served by reading the names of your family members on those bricks. It must make you sad at the same time.
I haven't had a roasted marshmallow in years. It's time. I just bought a small new BarBQue grill. That might be the first thing I'll try to see if it's hot enough to grill.
Hugs,
JB
Hugs,
JB
I can see it's time to bust out the little BBQ and make s'mores! We were lazy and didn't do much this year on Memorial weekend - I love your parade! Our little town also has a garden devoted to our servicemen - my nephew has his own brick there, and there was a lovely ceremony a few years ago when the garden was dedicated. We've also had some tiny squatters in our ficus tree on the porch: a tiny nest with 2 hummingbird babies in it! I just checked it this morning and I think they've flown away. They were getting awfully crowded in there! It's been fun to watch them, but the parents were making an awful mess on our window glass and my husband could barely contain himself! Plus, our house will be painted soon, so I'm glad they didn't have to be disturbed by that. So fun to watch them though. We discovered another nest (abandoned) that we must have not noticed when it was actively filled. Apparently, that tree is considered a safe zone by the hummingbirds!
Happy to hear you had a nice weekend. Your photos of the bricks made me well up inside with tears of pride and sorrow. I'm sorry for the loss of soldiers in your family, but so grateful and so proud of their service.
What an absolutely perfect day of celebrating and what a FULL weekend. We are all so blessed to live and enjoy this great country of our. The bricks look very nice and respectful.
I love the Robin's family.
Thanks for sharing the pictures of the activities of Memorial Day.
We live quite close to the West Point Military Academy so we never forget the real meaning of Memorial Day. Yet we see quite a few young men in fatigues and every time I see a student in the military SUV my heart hurts.
PS. There are quite a few young women who work in the academy, but mostly they do civilian jobs.
Seemed like a nice weekend with participating in your town's parade. Honestly, I don't think our town has parades any more (I'm sure budget cuts). It is good though to recognize those that gave their lives for our country and those still serving in the military. We tried to go and see hubby's parents' gravesite, they are buried at a military cemetery here, on Sunday. I like to see the graves all decorated with an American flag (wreaths at Christmas), but we couldnt' get into the cemetery because we came the same time as the ceremony honoring Memorial Day and it was packed, no parking. I thought that was neat that there were so many people out there to honor those who had given the ultimate sacrifice.
Great picture of your dad and what a neat idea to get the bricks to remember your family's service for our country.
What cute baby robins!
betty
Great post Yaya. I hope all is well with you.
R
A wonderful post, Yaya.. with the focus exactly where it should be on your Memorial Day.
Perfect post for Memorial Day. You guys do it up right!
=)
We spent the rain weekend inside, watching the old war movies on PBS. It was out best way to memorialize...
Loved seeing your pics of a fabulous Memorial Day weekend. Especially love the one of your Dad. How handsome he was in his uniform.
I am glad you were off and able to celebrate our men and women who have served our beautiful country and those that are still keeping us safe.
Just wanted to come by say hello and to see what your doing. I must catch up while I am lucky enough to be here.
All the rain we are having has me free to blog. Maybe I will even get to do a post.
Love ya
Maggie
I loved that they had a parade with the World War II vets being honored and I love how they were BOOKING it down Main Street! HA!!
Your Dad in his uniform! So young and handsome!
Love your baby birds too and well, I love this whole post!
God bless!
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