Three Cheers for the Red, White & Blue!!!

Parades

My Mom was honored in the local 4th of July Parade in 2013 for her years of community service.  She loved her country very much and was a true servant.  She volunteered countless numbers of hours to various groups and organizations.

Serving the Country

My Dad served in the Navy during WW2.  He was stationed in the Pacific on  Kwajalein Atoll.  I found his Navy scrapbook after he passed away.  I wish I would have found it while he was still alive.

I found this letter while I was going thru some family papers.  As much as I complained about the sheer amount of paper I had to go thru when my parents passed away, this is a prime example of why I couldn’t just toss without going thru the stacks of paper.  This was a letter my Dad had written to his sister.  We ended up with his sister’s papers because my Dad was the executor of her estate.

I actually found the letter 74 years later on July 23, 2018.  Kind of gives you chills, doesn’t it?

Honor Flight October 2011

I was fortunate to have my Dad in my life until he was 91 3/4.  In October of 2011, I was his escort on the Honor Flight to Washington, DC.  We left home at 4 in the morning and didn’t return until after midnight that day.  It was an amazing trip.  The Honor Flight organization pays to fly veterans to Washington DC for the day.  The veterans were greeted at the Washington DC airport by a band and crowds of people wanting to thank them for their service.

The veterans and their escorts spent the day touring the various memorials in Washington DC. We were able to go to the WW2 memorial as well as Arlington Cemetery to see the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

It was an emotional day for all of the veterans.  When we landed at Willard Airport, the veterans were met with band from the University of Illinois and a large crowd of well wishers.  The airplane carrying us was given a water salute by the local Fire Department.

Red, White and Blue

I will always have a patriotic display in my house because of my family’s love of country.  When I had my flower shop/antique store , Petals & Porch Posts, I always carried patriotic themed items.

In addition to my Dad serving his country, other family members did as well.  You can read about my Great Aunt Pauline and her service here:

Flags

The galvanized hog trough was found in my parent’s barn while I was cleaning it out.  You can read about what else we found in the barn here:

Celebrate

When I was growing up, our church always put on a dinner they called “The Calendar Supper”.  The ladies were assigned a different month of the year and were tasked with decorating a table with a theme that related to that month.  They would prepare a salad and a dessert specific to the month. The ladies could either use the church’s dishes or bring in their own.  As a kid, it seemed like my Mom always got a lame month.  Her group would get January or August.  She never got the cool months like February or December.

In the Fall of 2012, the church ladies decided to do a Calendar Supper as a fund raiser.  They hadn’t done one in years.  I raced to signed up to have a table.  I KNEW they would give me a “good” month…. after all, I was the town florist.  Who else should get a “good” month but someone who is gonna kick that table decorating out of the park (or in our case, the basement).  But guess what, I got……. January.  Really?

After I was finished  muttering about the unfairness of it all, I decided to do an Inauguration Day theme.  One reason was I could serve my beautiful Red, White and Blue salad and another reason was we had a ton of Red, White and Blue decorating things at the flower shop.  And I knew where they were.  Sometimes not being able to find something was a problem at the flower shop.  The recipe for the Red, White & Blue salad can be found here:

My Mom was in the nursing home at this time recovering from a broken knee but she would have loved the theme.  I asked my best friend Robin to assist me with the table.  She was always willing to help out!