Patriot's Day Parade

[Crankin]

Today I marched in the Concord Patriot's Day parade. This is a legal holiday in Massachusetts, that celebrates the victory of the Minutemen over the British at the Battle of Lexington and Concord in 1775. I have been a spectator many times, but today I got to march as part of the local military family support group. It was really cool! There were only about 7 of us in our group, and they had us marching in the third spot. I don't know the other people that well, and some of them seem a little over the top with their views, but I wore a picture of my son, as instructed, even though I thought it was a bit dorky.
The weather started out cool and cloudy, but it cleared and ended up being just beautiful. I can't tell you how it felt to be walking down a street and have people clapping for you because of what your child is doing! There were thousands of people, from all over the world there.
The parade was only 3 miles long, but after that, and standing for 45 minutes at the ceremony, I was too tired to ride. This was just a very unique experience for me.

[solobiker]

That sounds like a great experience. Do you have any pics??

[Crankin]

One of the people in the group took some pictures, but they are not on line yet.
Will post when I get them.

[Bad JuJu]

Good for you, and bravo and thanks to your son!

[tulip]

Patriot's Day is one of those strange regional holidays. I remember when I lived in Massachusetts in elementary school, it was a day off. Then I moved south in jr. high and Patriots Day ceased to exist. I haven't even thought of Patriots Day in 30 years or so.

Edit: we do have Veteran's Day, and Memorial Day, and even Confederate Veteran's Day in Richmond...(or is it Jeff Davis' Birthday?)

[Trek420]

Thanks to your son and all those serving, our TE vets etc

[Crankin]

I admit, I love Patriot's Day. I lived away from MA for 23 years, and I would secretly celebrate it myself in FL and AZ by watching the Marathon on TV and reading about American History. Yesterday, when we marched over the North Bridge, where the ceremony was, I thought about how when we came here to look for houses the year before we moved. We took the kids to this spot and Scott was scared to death he was going to fall in the river (he was 4)! It's amazing that a kid who was so afraid of so many things turned out to be a fearless Marine! Also, I have lots of good memories of him and my older son climbing the huge trees here and playing along the river when they were in elementary school.
I also loved Parada del Sol and Cinco de Mayo in AZ. I know some people celebrate those holidays just as an excuse to drink, but there's a lot of cultural aspects to them that are really interesting.