Memorial Day 2008

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paddyinthepub
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Joined: Wed Jun 21, 2006 9:44 pm
Location: Philadelphia

Memorial Day 2008

Postby paddyinthepub » Sun May 25, 2008 8:04 am

Easy to lose sight of what this holiday is meant to commemorate.....

My dad was in sales and once a year he would hand out small desk calendars and always made sure we kids took one to school to give to our teachers. Have to admit i didn't fully understand why at the time. I only knew it was kind of cool that his name and the name of his company was special enough to be on a calendar for all to see every day all year long. How naive I was not to make the connection that it was a way to try and spread the word about his role in the company hoping it would help generate new clients.

Fell in love with our new neighborhood when we moved here 4 years ago from the other side of the country. Everyday I would find new things about it that would solidify my belief that we had made the right choice during the arduous task of finding the right one to suit our needs. We lucked out.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, it did. We'd been here 8 months before the first Memorial Day Weekend here rolled around. Everyone asking about our plans or relaying their plans for the 3 day weekend. Most folks head to the shore as they're wont to call it. That took some getting used to and I'd have fun with my new neighbors and say "oh, you mean you're going to the beach."

Woke up on the morning of our first Memorial Day here to find that someone had taken the time to place American Flags in the front yard of every single home in our community. They were the small size flag on a stick variety but still a sight to see. My best guess was they were placed by the developer or home owner's association to add a sense of pride.

Nothing quite like a gentle reminder of the men and women who gave their lives for the freedoms we enjoy today placed on your doorstep.

Like clockwork, year after year, the flags magically appeared some time between Sunday evening and Memorial Day Monday morinig. It always caught me by surprise. And for most of this time I knew not where they came from or how they got there. Until last year, of course, when I took a closer look at the flag than ever before. And there it was........

On a small sticker wrapped around the flag stick was the name of a local real estate agent with his company name and contact number. His name is on real estate signs all over this neighborhood so I recognized it straight away. Have to admit i felt somewhat less excited about the display of patriotism knowing it was little more than an attempt to go the extra mile to get a calling card out to neighbors in a new and unique way.

Kinky Friedman's song "Everything's Been Sold American" came rushing in. But I digress......... :wink:

Have a wonderul Memorial Day everyone. :)
"once we're inside, it's a carnival ride" ~ ellis paul
paddy

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