It was Sunday morning, the day before Memorial Day. We woke to the smell of Folgers brewing and the sweet scent of jasmine drifting in through our open windows. My favorite thing about Sunday is sitting in the backyard on the bench swing with the paper and a mug of coffee. Sunday’s “Breakfast with the Beatles” plays on the stereo, we relax and all is right with the world. No longer can I read the paper cover to cover because so much of it is exasperating and gets me ranting.
I walked down the driveway to collect our Sunday Los Angeles Times. To my surprise, there was a flag planted in our lawn by the curb. Looking down our street, I saw a beautiful thing. Flags were planted in every yard on both sides of the street. A slight breeze blew the flags into a red, white and blue wave.
We have been surrounded by an ocean of division and volatility. On Memorial Day we are united by our similarities. Our patriotism, gratitude and pride for our country is celebrated. The negative noise is quashed, if only for a few days. A tear came to my eye and a peaceful feeling enveloped me in both warmth and chills. Although we didn’t socialize much with our neighbors, at that moment we were together in unity.
Later in the day, Jack and I went for a walk. To our delight, there were flags lining every street within a one mile radius of our place. Obviously someone was advertising, there was a tag on the flag stake. The return on their investment would dull in comparison to the gift they gave to us. The flag campaign gave me a brighter perspective. Surely it filled all of our neighbors with a great sense of gratitude and pride. The “Ozzie and Harriet” times are long gone. If we preserve our old school values and be kind, our future holds a double rainbow of promise.
“Democracy and defense are not substitutes for another. Either alone will fail.” John F. Kennedy
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