Memorial Day

Yesterday morning, Jim and I were hanging back in bed and listening to a radio show from Connecticut on 600AM called the Italian House Party with John LaBarca. It’s this old-timey show with this guy who grew up in Brooklyn in an old world Italian neighborhood with his old world Italian family. He plays anything from Italian opera to Frank Sinatra and it reminds me of my own childhood, even though my grandparents never lived in Brooklyn. When they came over from Sicily, they ended up in New Jersey on a farm. My grandfather grew grapes and made his own wine.

But anyway, Jim enjoys it, too, so we sorta snuggle and talk and listen to this hokey radio show. And since it is Memorial Day weekend, good old John began the show with “Stars and Stripes, Forever.” Boy, I haven’t heard that song in quite a while. When it was over, he got up on his soapbox and basically, the essence of what he was saying was that patriotism has nothing to do with political affiliation. That this weekend, we should try to remember the people throughout our history who have fought for our freedom and to honor them and be grateful. That regardless of how we feel about what our leaders are doing at the moment, this is still our country and it’s the best country in the world.

Umm. Yeah….I mostly feel that way, too, I guess. Yes. Surely, there is a lot wrong here, but I mean, there is a lot wrong everywhere. I really don’t think I’d want to live anywhere else. And there are good things. People tend to forget about the good things. So I will take my buddy John’s advice and take a moment to thank and honor those men and women who have fought for the freedom we enjoy today. I will, however, continue to dream of a future in which all war will be unnecessary.