Memorial Day - 2025

Hi friends!

We're observing Memorial Day this weekend - a national holiday of remembrance and our 'unofficial' start to summer. It's a time of both reverence and joy.

Here in Park Ridge (where I live), we have a Memorial Day parade every year. It’s wonderfully small-town in the best way: marching bands, scout troops, church groups, civic organizations, and others, all making their way down the street. The fire department and public works department roll through with gleaming trucks. Our elected officials walk with sashes to identify their roles, and even the folks from the public library are out to promote their new summer reading program. The onlookers find their spaces early, sipping coffee and catching up with neighbors.

It's wonderfully small-town!

There’s candy, laughter, music, and waving. There is so much positive energy that sometimes I wonder if there are more people in the parade than there are watching it!

At the front of it all are our local veterans. Some march, others ride in cars. When they pass by, the crowd falls silent and stands - there is often reverential applause. It’s a brief but powerful pause in the cacophony of the day - deeply respectful and quietly moving.

It is a parade of both reverence and joy. It brings the community together and it honors those who have served.

That's the magic of a small-town parade!

Whether you’re watching a parade, traveling, or just relaxing this weekend, I hope that you find some magic too.

With reverence & joy,

Nina G