As I wander through life, the sense of community, those
family and friends that congregate to celebrate the special moments we
all share during the course of the year is no better represented than
going to an event, and in this case it was St. Patrick's Day at the
Veteran's Memorial Building in Santa Rosa, with a large group of
American Legion families. As most celebrations of St. Patty's comes
down the Pike, it was a feast of Corned Beef and Cabbage, with
Potatoes and Carrots, which by the way were cooked to perfection, and
came with Rye Bread and condiments.
Joyce had lined up with Roy and his family to go to the
event, for more than just one reason, but one of the biggest
surrounded the fact that Roy was a member of a Drum and Bugle Corps,
which always played at these gatherings. Joyce knew Roy and his
family because they lived kitty corner to Ray and Gladys Widdifield,
and Roy had gone to school with Adele, Joyce's mother.
We had gone up to Healdsburg and picked up our friend
June in Healdsburg, and then went and picked up Adele, and made the
short Road Trip over to the Veterans Memorial Building. Once inside
the door, we found Roy and his familly and sat ourselves in, and got a
couple of plates of appetizers and drinks, and started up some
conversation with all the people that were gathered for the
celebration.
We all got treated to Corned Beef and Cabbage, and
during the conversation it dawned on us that Roy's family actually
knew June, so that brought us all a little closer. There was also a
gentleman there that Joyce had quite the conversation about Doyle Park
Elementary School, and that ongoing tranformation of becoming a French
Charter School for various budgetary reasons.
While the Drum and Bugle Corps played their usual
fare, they also treated us to each of the anthems of the Army, Navy,
Marines and Coast Guard, and members of the crowd representing each of
these branches of the military stood up as their anthems were being
played.
Earlier, raffle tickets had been sold, and during the
progression of winners, our dear friend June actually won something.
You got to go and pick whatever you wanted, and she picked out a
beautiful necklace. It always adds to the fun and frivolity of the
moments you enjoy while your conversing, when one of your group
actually wins something, and it couldn't have happened to a more
deserving member of our small clan.
During the event, I had a conversation with Adele
about a particular gentleman in the crowd about what he had done for a
living, and I had guessed a few things, including a School Principal,
and later when I had a short conversation with him, he informed me one
of his jobs was working at the County Hospital. For me, I conceded, I
was way off. Later I was to have another short conversation with a
woman with a beautiful turquoise blouse, and she informed me she had
acquired it at a neighbor's Estate Sale, for a dollar. Wonders, never
cease to be amazing. All and all, again being surrounded by the
community with a variety of people with shared backgrounds and
families tied to the community is a warm and enchanting experience,
and though I am what I consider an interloper, I am again tied to the
grace and pomp and circumstance, and the warmth of such events by my
glorious wife of going on 26 years of Holy Matrimony, Joyce Lynn.
So one day, if you get the chance to have the
opportunity to become involved with such Kismet or Serendipity, please
avail yourself to participate and enjoy the camaraderie of and the
sense of community that is so richly endowed in such events as these,
and let the hustle bustle of the speed of the sound of loneliness pass
you by as you indulge in the small town emotional ties that come from
such wonderful people who come together to celebrate their compassion
and enjoyment with each other. Again, Steven, with his fellow
travelers, this time including Adele and June, finds that the road
trips that he chooses to take, brings him the Joy and Solace he so
warmly desires to derive from such occurrences, Child, wishing all of
you had the same expectations fulfilled on your celebrations of St.
Patrick's Day.
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