In a previous post I shared a list of new and old holiday traditions from my childhood that I planned to experience with my daughter.  The day before Thanksgiving marked the commencement of our holiday tradition bonanza.  Today we continued creating memories and making traditions.  For the first time ever my daughter and I stood on the side-walk – one of us with a grueling backache in the aftermath of holding a 30-pound toddler – to partake in the local annual Christmas parade.

It was easy to tell that some bystanders have long included the annual Christmas parade as a family tradition.  The veteran onlookers were decked with lawn chairs, mugs of some variety of hot cocoa, tea, or coffee, and blankets.  Yours truly had the daily essentials:  lip balm and gloss, peppermints, phone, camera (with a dead battery), and sunglasses.  Little One had her mittens and fruit snack.  She declined the offer to be pushed around in her stroller.  It was a nice day for walking, so hey, what did I care that she wanted to be healthy and get her blood pumping with a few thousand blocks of walking?  Good girl I thought.

Two hours, no stroller, no Daddy, no camera battery, and no back support.  Did I mention my lingering backache?

Those two hours were filled with watching the Marching Force from my alma mater, Hampton University, march proudly down the street playing classic Christmas tunes that most, if not all, of us are familiar with.  We saw a number of inflatable character floats one after the other, the Harlem Globetrotters, and even a troop of tiny cheerleaders, oddly not cheering, smiling, waving, or yelling, “happy holidays” to the crowd.

Then…

Came the float carrying 8 men dressed in uniform.  I’m not referring to the big man in the red and white  suit (what is that, velvet?) and his elves I’m talking about 8 men decked in freshly pressed military regalia.  Blame it on the dull pain in my lower back, or the absence of my lovely husband who could have prevented the pain in my back, but I uncharacteristically was pretty excited to see the men in uniform, standing tall, dignified, and demanding respect.   Exciting indeed.  I smiled and waved, yelled, “Happy Holidays” and “Merry Christmas.”  I even saluted one very handsome officer!  My, oh my.  Don’t ask me why I did it.

My daughter enjoyed the parade.  More than the parade she enjoyed being amongst the hundreds of onlookers who also included this year’s parade on their tradition to-do list.  Mommy enjoyed the parade too.  Especially…well, I won’t hurt hubby’s feelings, but you all know what my favorite part was, next to seeing the joy on my baby’s face of course.

Moving forward our holiday traditions list will include annual Christmas parade with fine men in uniform on float.  No exceptions!

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