Mesa, AZ - Thank you, Veterans

Here it is Veterans Day and there’s nothing I like better than a good local parade with all the bands, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts and HS ROTC units, historical military equipment, community churches and other organizations and - ta da - a B-17 military flyover. Can you beat all that? Nope. And, that’s why we were in Mesa for the Veterans Day parade last year and why we’re here this year.

But, most of all it’s a chance to honor those veterans who have fought and died for our freedoms. When they say that freedom is not free, they are absolutely correct. Unfortunately we depend upon a small cadre of warriors today who serve 5 and even 6 tours of duty. But, enough of politics.

We came with some friends, Shirley and Jerry, found a place near the curb, set up our chairs and got ready to enjoy, clap in appreciation and stand in honor.

Veterans day began in 1954 when President Eisenhower called upon all of our citizens to observe November 11th as Veterans Day and asked all Americans to will join hands to insure proper and widespread observance of this day. And every President since has honored our Veterans this way.

There were the usual dance clubs strutting their stuff, school groups, kids on bikes, third graders who had made ‘thank-you’ cards for vets in the audience (Gary got one) and many other local community groups.

However, the most poignant groups were the local high school ROTC’s with their members marching and carrying a banner with the picture of an Arizonan killed during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Everyone stood as these groups marched by and they marched by for a while, unfortunately.

Fine parade and we’ll come if we’re in the area next year.

Mesa, AZ - Grandmothers

Recently I mentioned to a friend of mine that my grandmother wore those sensible sturdy black shoes with laces and heels about 2” in diameter. She laughed and then sent me a picture of her grandmother with the same kind of shoes. And, the same dress, by the way, black, mid-knee length, easy to care for material. Then I found a picture of Gary’s grandmother with his grandfather. There certainly was a look about these women. Sensible, no-nonsense, down-to-earth, practical, hard working, focused. And, look at how my grandmother is carrying her purse - no one is going to steal that baby. (And if anyone were to try, she’d bop them on the head with that self-same purse.) That was grandmothers in the 1950’s and 1960’s when we were growing up. And, they all looked that way. And they were called comfortable traditional names like Grandma and Grandpa.

And, did these women ever wear pants or slacks or jeans? Heavens, no. That was not lady-like. Katherine Hepburn might have worn slacks but she was a movie star. These women were hardy women of the heartland. Gary’s grandmother, on the right, who lived into the early 90’s, did finally find the joys of wearing slacks. Her daughters bought her a pair for Christmas. She went upstairs, changed and came down the stairs, standing at the newel post while her family clapped, laughed and told her she looked great.

Now, here’s a picture of my sister- and brother-in-law when we all went for a bike trip down the trails in Lanesboro. They have 2 wonderful grandchildren. How times have changed. Today grandparents wear jeans, sneakers, sweatshirts, shorts. They ride bikes, roller-blade, scuba dive and hike. They are fun-loving, modern and athletic. And they choose edgier names like Poppa and Mimi.

On the other hand, no matter what they look like, what they wear, what they do and what they are called, they are still grandparents and aren’t they wonderful?

I’m wondering what the younger generation will look like when they become grandparents. Tattoos, lots of rings and they’ll call themselves ‘Dude’ and ‘Chick’ or other names that I don’t even want to put into a clean blog, and, quite frankly, I probably don’t even know.

5.61 0 (it’s pretty flat here in Mesa)