Small Town Parade.....

I have spent 4 years complaining about this small town. It just isn't for me. I grew up in a big city, with lots of things to do, places to go, and people to see. And my whole life was really thrown for a loop when we transferred here 4 years ago.

You see, I'm not really one that just dives in head first and tries to make friends right away. I like to dip my toes in first, test the waters, and gradually warm up in the waters of friendship. And that takes time. Unfortunately, time isn't something that you have a lot of when you are in the military. We are constantly moving on....and leaving whatever friends we made behind.

Today, we went to the small town parade. Now if any of you have ever attended on of these, you know that it is nothing like what goes on in the big cities. This particular town parade consisted of 75 motorcycles (people are very serious about their motorcycles around here!), every fire truck and cement mixer in the county, a couple of police cars with officers that tossed candy to the crowd, and Miss Shrimp Festival waving to her adoring fans from the back of a convertible.

But there were 2 floats that struck a cord with me, the only two floats in the whole parade. The first was the Veteran's Float. It was completely full of empty chairs, to signify all of of the men and women that paid the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country. Taps played from the stereo.

The other float, (which I wish I had a picture of but silly me left the camera at home!) was from a church. My church. It had nothing on it but two pews that had been removed from the sanctuary, and they were filled from end to end with members of our congregation. My middle child spotted her favorite pastor and screamed, "Hey, there's Pastor Steve!" Chaos ensued, as the members of our church screamed their hellos, waved madly, and blew kisses at us. We returned the affection with equal adoration.

It was at that moment that I got all misty eyed and realized, that although it was tough to make friends at this location, I have some wonderful memories here, and met some really terrific people. I am really going to miss this place. Small town atmosphere and all.