Loss in a time of celebration

I’ve been trying to frame my feelings since our participation in the Independence Day parade.

Mark drove his beautiful 65 Thunderbird and we were a part of several cars from the Sunshine Region AACA car club of which he is Vice President.

We were ferrying Chuck, a highly decorated Army Ranger Vietnam Vet, and Kyle the Sarasota District One City Commissioner.

Chuck is frail and missing his front teeth. He had many many people acknowledge him and his service and seemed to have a very loving cohort that recognized his service. He was sweet and a part of the fodder we so cruelly sent to Vietnam.

Kyle a consummate politician, was young, handsome and black. He was greeted warmly by many and charmed many of the crowd members along our route.

Despite the non controversial occupants in our care we had a couple of disturbing encounters with remnants of the Trump rally from the previous day.

This crowd was not familiar to me. I have lived in my bubble for so long as a result of the isolated life that we have here in Florida and especially through the pandemic, that they may have been from Mars, they seemed that strange.

The crowd was, for the most part, bedraggled and unkempt, with stringy hair, obese, with cute little kids in tow. It was obvious they…