most people don't think of going south for the 4th of july... but we do... and did.
one of my brothers lives in bluffton, indiana... about an hour south of the michigan line. we didn't grow up there. but my mother worked at the 'caylor-nickel clinic' when we lived on the farm about a half an hour away.
'the fourth' has always been a special time for us beyond just celebrating our country's independence. my mother's birthday was july 1st... and my dad's was july 4th... so we did the family-gather thing complete with packing our stomachs with burgers or whatever was dangling over the charcoal. our parents are gone now, but never far from our thoughts.
in earlier years, the 4th also was a time for enjoying the salamonie summer festival in warren, where we lived most of our growing up days... so i thought it would be fun to take the family over for the festival parade, since we were so close.
on our way there, i drove down shafer road and past the farm. the land still holds a certain mystic for me. even though the house is now abandoned, overgrown, & really should be torn down... somehow i only see it the way it used to be. taking a picture from the edge of "our property"... i'm reminded that in some ways little has changed since those days.
finally in town... we placed our chairs across from the school i attended as a kid... the school where one day i slid down the snowy hill... ...on my piano book! anyway... every window seemed to invite me into a different collection of short stories. but there wasn't time for too much reminiscing... the parade was coming!
our lawn chair vantage point was only a couple houses from where we lived after moving off the farm. i found myself pointing out my bedroom window to my kids... then feeling a bit strange. why should they care which was my bedroom window? i guess i was just hoping it might help them realize this was holy ground in some way.
home has a way of making you feel that way sometimes. you wish you could let your kids have a peak into your past... or at least into the good times.
like in any small town... the parade was stuffed with fire engines, old tractors & cars, politicians, a few floats, kid's baseball teams and a marching band. my kids said it was more fun hearing me skateboard down memory lane than anything else.
there was the convertible sporting the 2008 "little miss salamonie", followed by her 9-yr. old predecessor... which triggered my own childhood memories of singing as the winner walked her acceptance walk. "there she is, little miss salamonie. there she is, our ideal." ah, those were the days.
and sure enough, there among the pick-ups sprouting with heads fresh from their summer butch cut was a group wearing shirts for 'heyde oil'... one of the teams i, myself, played on during my many awkward years.
and my grade school friend, john williams, drove his plymouth sports fury loaded with his grandkids.
and i was surprised when some of my bonham cousins walked by drawing the crowd's support to elect my cousin, paul, for county commissioner. where's my squirt gun when i need it?!
but then, seeing the float my thompson cousins made... surrounded by nearly 200 thompsons... left me with the eerie realization that probably most of the people in the parade were related to me in one way or another.
but that's not a bad thing. that's what happens when you go back to your roots.
for the 2 or 3 of you who missed it... and might be interested in watching... here's the entire parade (or most of it) in 1 minute & 45 seconds!
ian got to connect with his soul-mate & peoria buddy, cameron, whose family was also returning to their hoosier stomping grounds not far away. i'm so thankful they've stayed connected. he's one of our favorites, for sure.
then a drive back along 'shafer road'... some great bluffton fireworks to celebrate beth's first fourth as a u.s. citizen... a trip to taylor to drop off cameron... a couple stops at fireworks store... and we're home again in michigan.
i also learned that more family members read my blog than i expected... which feels kind of cool & weird at the same time... which also leads me to the retraction part.
no... beth wasn't really examined by oprah's grandma for her citizenship test. beth's re-telling of the experience simply labeled her interviewer as the kind of woman who seemed like she might be oprah's grandma, but i neglected to make that clear in my blog post.
i apologize. we regret any confusion this error may have caused anyone... and meant no harm to oprah's family. we also regret any stress that our family members may bear because they told friends & family that oprah's grandmother helped beth become a u.s. citizen. as far as we know... oprah's grandmother neither lives in detroit, nor works for the department of homeland security. although, neither can we confirm that she doesn't. we also wish to deny any rumors that beth has been contacted by harpo productions to tape a special immigration segment for the oprah show.
Oprah scares me.
Posted by: Rick Lingenfelter | July 07, 2008 at 11:55 PM
Randy! Cannot tell you how much I can connect with you on this post - it's got me waxing nostalgic. My youth was spent "going south" to Indiana for the fourth, and you described my experience to the 'T'! My family's travels were to Argos, Plymouth, North Liberty & S. Bend area. Thanks for the trip! (know i'm commenting "late" - but been w/o computer/internet for a while and catching up)
blessings to you!
Scott Hoel
-oh & I agree with Rick she scares me too.
Posted by: Scott Hoel | July 20, 2008 at 10:52 PM