Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness
I feel so grateful that my hometown and coincidentally, my Dad’s hometown, is acknowledging him this Saturday by flying the flags at half-mast. My Dad loved our hometown and never left the town which he grew up in ~ he always said he would leave his childhood home in which he raised his own family, ‘feet first’ and my Dad was a man of his word.
Dad knew his hometown’s history, having lived there 75 years. He would drive by various parts of town, telling us the history and how some of the buildings were the originals. There’s the bend in the road by a pond where as a child, he watched the Queen of England pass by on her way through our town. Funny that sometimes when I drive on that part of the road, I can hear him telling me the story. He knew the families who resided in the area and enjoyed learning the history of each of them. Like one of those old town family doctors (he wasn’t a doctor), he was privy to much information and always kept family secrets.
I have been so grateful for the outpouring of love and prayers from many of the residents. One particular message I received was, “I will tell you that his involvement with the installation of the new monument was something that I know made him very proud. I also would consider him to be the “unofficial” chairman/ringleader of our town’s Veterans. He was the one pushing all of them to come out each year and march in the Parade or attend the Vets Day Ceremony.”
My Dad was patriotic having served in the military for many years. He loved history and could regale his audience with big and little known facts about many subjects. He was proud of the fountain of knowledge in his head. Unfortunately, he never had the time to write it all down, so there are only the scraps of memories which we hold dear to live on in his memory.
There’s much to be said about your hometown and never leaving it…
Bruce Springsteen writes about it and as a Jersey Girl
I am grateful to Our Hometown…
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