Day 74 ~ Parade Upgrade

Day 74 ~ Parade Upgrade

Mar 15, 2014

My first: I went to the St. Patrick's Day parade right here in my hometown for the first time.

It was Saturday. And like a new sprout in spring, this amazingly beautiful day appeared out of nowhere to spur anyone to get out there and soak it up. So why not chill out, witness, and “celebrate” St. Patrick’s Day with my hometown’s parade!

I called my friend Carol and, of course, “social Carol” was about to hop on the Camp Ondessonk float. I hightailed on up there to downtown Belleville and caught Carol’s float just in time. I WISH, I WISH I would have asked her if I could jump on there with her to throw beads and greet the enthusiastic crowd, but the old Mare (no grey here!) reared her ugly head and kept her requests to herself.

But it was okay! My neighbor Kathy called out my name and we talked for quite awhile. I proceeded to look for her husband Tony. I used to work with him. I didn’t find him, but I found my childhood friend Cindy and her sister Pam. We chatted and then I moved on to find my friends Mel and Cami after receiving a text from them that they were there. During my trek to catch them, my cousin-in-law Dale yelled out to me and I got to visit with him and his wife Donna, my cousin. They were there with their daughter Debbie and her two daughters. Old home week, for sure!

After the parade I went with Carol to The Abbey, a restaurant/coffee shop in West Belleville to meet her two friends Belinda and Gary. We sat on the outside patio in the sun for over 2 hours visiting, drinking and eating. Well, they did; I just had a latte.  I saw my cousin Marcia who I hadn’t seen in years and talked with her. Also I saw an old “Mothers Club” friend Mary. Of course, we had a lot to share about each other and our children. I met many strangers on that beautiful day. Everyone was so friendly and glad to be out enjoying life!

Then Carol and I went to my house so I could show her my newly-renovated master suite. She loved it. After that, yes there’s more, we went to St. Louis to a young people party, people that were my kids’ ages. What interesting conversations we had! The age difference had no voice in trying to segregate us. It was amazing!

Then Carol and I headed back to Belleville for a Pre-Pub Crawl. We were just a few blocks away when we saw this very inebriated young man. Carol stopped and gave him a ride to his house that was about 5 blocks away. God love her! I told him that an angel just delivered him to his house and her name is Carol.

On to Carol's friends’ house! Pat and his wife welcomed us warmly, as did so many people that were there. Corned beef and cabbage was on the menu, but again interesting interactions were the main course of the evening. I was relishing and embracing it all. Key note here: no alcohol passed my lips…remember my 2014 “on the wagon” pledge!

I will remember this day as a parade upgrade because I got so much more than floats and a neck full of beads. There are good, good people in this world and as the Irish would say, I was lucky to have been around so many of them that day and always.

And let me just say this one more thing…“Social Media” has NOTHING compared to what I experienced on this day. Where’s the “like button” when you need one?