Tag Archives: Family

Day 3: Memorial Day

I am an historian. I majored in I earned a Bachelor of Liberal Arts in History at the University of Houston. I remember coming home from school in 3rd grade back in Sugar Land, Texas and asking my mom why World War II had started. From the point – I was a hooked reader. I could not get enough to read and learn about World War II. The movie, Patton, was in the theaters that year and I remember watching it with my dad at The Palms Theater in Sugar Land. I have watched the movie many times since then and enjoy listening to the soundtrack.

Of all of the days of the year that should count – this is one. I had planned staying home in Wheaton for Memorial Day, but my plans changed. I had really wanted to be in Versailles, Ohio for Memorial Day but I did not make the trip with my family on Friday because of the concern for making my in-laws sick (again) and instead drove to Ohio after the Indy 500. Memorial Day in Versailles is special. It is special in Wheaton and other towns and cities across America, but it is especially so in Versailles. My first Versailles Memorial Day was in 1991 and we continued for many years stopping in 2007 and choosing to stay home when William began marching in the Wheaton parade with his Cub Scout troop. It changed the tradition but not the meaning.

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Day 2: Indy 500

William as a weatherman! Reporting live from Indianapolis May 2004.

Day 2: Sunday, May 30th, began by waking up at 3.45 and leaving the house at 4.15. I was headed to Indianapolis; today I would drive 350 miles  and the drivers I was watching would drive 500.  This would be by my eighteenth 500; I have been attending them since moving to the Midwest in 1991 and I have only missed only two. I was not going to miss this one or be late. I am always awed driving south on I-65 out of Chicago. At that early hour, the sun is rising and the fields are open and wide. I am driving through corn, soybean, and wheat territory and the slight rolling hills leave an open horizon. The sun coming up is wonderful and I am listening to my Marketplace podcasts – catching up from the hectic week. Midway between Chicago and Indianapolis, I come up a wind farm that stretches from the west to the east and is at least two or three miles thick along the interstate, perhaps more. I do not recall it from last year’s trip.

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