Last night we all went to downtown Wauchula, where I sat on Main street in order to watch the Christmas parade. Nathan and Austin were going to be a part of the parade, helping out with the Thousand Trails float. My ankle kept me grounded so I went as a sideline cheerleader.
Since I was going solo for the parade watching, that also meant I got to do much people watching while there. I love to spend time people watching. It is fascinating to me. You can really learn a lot from a place by doing this. And I came away from this parade, which was beautiful, reminded that so often small towns in America offer a view of some of the best and the worst that our society has to offer.
I saw much that told me that racism and preferential treatment is alive and well in our country. No matter how forward we move in these areas, situations like this tell me how far we have to go yet. My heart was heavy in the moments I was witnessing that. It is not something that seemed congruent with a Christmas parade to me.
At the same time, those same people who surrounded me also shared what makes our country beautiful to me. There is something touching about parades that feels almost patriotic to me. People do a great job of pulling together to make the parade happen. People do a great job of coming out to support the parade by bringing their families and enjoying the result of the hard work. I love it when towns pull together in this way.
Parades give people a chance to share what is important to them.
I loved seeing those that were near and dear to me. Nathan holding the banner and Buddy and Diane:
It was a wonderful night and I was really touched to see our "home for now" represented there. The Jammers did a great job! It definitely put me in the Christmas spirit even more.
Living the life in small town Florida!
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