Memorial Day memories...

Somewhere along the line, Memorial Day became both a Monday holiday and the official start of summer.

As a kid growing up in a small town in northeastern Pennsylvania, Memorial Day was also known as May 30th and the summer thing didn't happen until that exact moment when the bell rang and we were released from school for the year, running like madmen and idiots headlong into long, hot days off, no doubt driving our parents crazy. But Memorial Day--whichever day of the week May 30th fell upon--meant a day off from school, a parade, and a trip to my Uncle Louie's house out in the country for an undoubtedly contentious picnic. Uncle Louie was like that.

That parade was the bane of my existence. I remember it as one long-ass low-level spectacle. I hated parades, even those with some kind of patriotic theme. My parents dragged me along to sit sullenly on a curb and watch the marching bands, local dignitaries, police cars and fire engines march and drive slowly up Broad Street, making their way to Odd Fellows Cemetery for a memorial service. (I think we even went to that a few times.) Then it was home and into the car to Uncle Louie's house.

Very little of a memorial nature was ever mentioned. We didn't pause to honor fallen comrades and any remembrance of the dead was confined to the placing of (plastic) flowers on a grave. My mom was more concerned about the potato salad being in the sun. And don't even bring out a metal spoon to put in it. That way lies madness.

We'd play wiffle ball, call my Uncle John "Uncle Bulgey" until our respective moms told us to stop, and end up going for a walk, usually in the field across from Louie's house, just to get away. By dusk everyone was tired of everyone else--that's how families are--and we'd pack up and make the short ride home, hopefully in time to sit out on the front porch. But school usually loomed the next day and the countdown began to the last day and the real start of summer, at least for us kids.

My hometown, Tamaqua, still has a Memorial Day parade. I will not be attending this year, mainly because I live 3,000 miles away but also because I've seen enough marching bands, fire engines and local dignitaries to last a lifetime.

Comments

[Pam]

Thanks for sharing this memory with us, Gary!
Love it!