long may she wave

Daddy is an Air Force veteran of the cold war, so he's all about what service to country means. He flies a flag on this big ass pole next to the flower bed and lights it up at night. The poor old stars and stripes have been lookin' like they got taken straight into battle on horseback lately, so he was past due for a new one. Ya'll know how I hate to go to megastores and prefer to shop local because, hey. There's only so many hours in a day and at least once every few I pass through court square. There's this little family owned hardware store on Main Street that has one of everything you could ever imagine, but only one. We ran into the owner at lunch the other day and he assured us that he had just what Daddy needed. Dude is not always there, so I stopped by when I saw the sign burning up front to pick up the flag. It was a bargain, to say the least. The look on my Daddy's face when we raised it up into the cold October breeze told me that it's all good. Really. Back in the day, that store was THE place to go for all your hardware needs. The rest of court square consisted of the drug stores, lawyers offices and dress shops. There was an underground barber shop and a feed store.

My maternal grandfather owned a service station across the street from the Methodist church, down and up a hill from where he raised the family on College. To this day, I still run into people who remember him as a downtown businessman. I was three when he died at 45 from heart disease, something that would be a two day stay now with the technology that is available to fix innards and save lives. There was a little diner next door called the Silver Castle, and Roberts Chevrolet was on the left. All of that is gone now...and a bank claims that corner. Not even mine, by the way.

I feel very sorry for those who haven't taken the time to learn about their roots even if they're good bad and ugly. There's only one life here on God's green earth and I believe there's a reason that we're here. We live and learn from others' diseases and weaknesses. We chant "couldashouldawoulda" when discussing decisions that were made that impacted several generations. But in the end, it all plays out according to what BE has in mind.

I'm not sure what that is. But I have faith that they will guide me. You know...him and his other half. Now pardon me while I finish cleaning my room so that the weekend can be a time of rest.

^j^