Just another three day weekend?

I must confess. Last Friday I rushed out the door of my office thinking "Yay, a three day weekend!" I did not stop to realize the reason I got Monday off. In fact, until Monday itself, I didn’t once stop to think about it. And I probably wouldn’t have thought much about it even then except for the fact that my mom, in her typical fashion, reminded us.

It was a warm and balmy day in Long Beach on Monday. Dad had fired up the grill and the whole family sat around waiting for the meat to be done. Our bags were already packed. After lunch we would head back up I-5 to our home in Sacramento. My sister Melissa, age 7, was dressed in a bright red t-shirt with a huge American flag scarf draped around her neck and pinned together at the front with a flag lapel pin. Her hair was in pigtails with navy and red bows. She looked the picture of the all-American girl. Uncle Sam would’ve been proud.

As we waited, my mom started passing around literature to the guys, asking them to read various portions when prompted. (My mom likes to do these little "ceremonies" at holidays. I think it’s really cute.) :) Kevin read a long portion written by Colin Powell. Then she asked my grandpa to share about his World War II experiences. I presumed he would talk about his specific experiences and about other soldiers he knew and how we should remember those who have sacrificed for our country, yada, yada, yada. The same old stuff. But I was surprised. Instead, he talked about patriotism. He spoke about America then . . . and America now. He grew up in a vastly different world than I have ever seen. It was a world where people respected their country and what it stands for. And, even if they disagreed with their leaders, they still stood tall and unified in their love for America and their desire to see her grow and prosper. In grandpa’s world, journalists were fired if they ever displayed a lack of patriotism in their reporting. In grandpa’s world, school children were taught by the public schools to take pride in their country, the greatest on earth, and the freedoms and liberties they are afforded. In my world, I see patriotic exercises challenged in the courts and stripped from the classrooms. In my world, I constantly hear about things like globalism, world unification, condemnation of the President for not seeking U.N. approval, etc., etc. As my grandpa ended his little speech, I felt my eyes growing moist. The last thing he said was, "I love America."

[Note: In his sermonette, my grandpa also talked about how his grandfather fought in the Civil War, which I thought was very cool. Except he was with the Union. I think it would have been so much cooler if he’d been a Rebel. Whenever my sisters and I used to play "Civil War" in the backyard (heck with dolls!), I was always a confederate. But, oh well.]
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One of the highlights of the past weekend was going to the beach with my family. Kevin actually went twice! I enjoyed laying in the warm sunshine with my sisters and burying the kids up to their necks in sand. We also worked on a very *extravagant* sandcastle with all kinds of moats and towers. Kevin enjoyed going boogey-boarding with David. It was great to watch them. The waves were HUGE. Kevin would take David way out into the deep waters and then, when a wave would start to form, he’d push him so he could catch it and ride it all the way in. It was a perfect day.

We also enjoyed a puppet show, put on by the kids. They ad-libbed everything. We thought it would be the most retarded thing ever but, actually, it ended up being pretty funny.

Also - my sister Betsy has just completed her B.S. degree in Applied Sciences, with an emphasis in Aviation. She had to take a lot of tough science and math classes and did very well. Congratulations Betsy! We are very proud of you.