A Memorial Day Memory

Serving on City Council in Falls Church is, of course, a tremendous honor.  Our community is very active and politically aware (not surprising given how close we are to Washington, D.C.).  It is also very close knit.  The lines between politics, friendships, and neighborhood acquaintances often get blurred ... often in humorous ways.

One of my (now) favorite recollections of serving on City Council was at the City Memorial Day Parade in 2001.  I was VERY pregnant with twins.  But I love parades, and was determined not to miss one of our best civic events.  The day of the parade turned out to be unusually warm.  And did I mention I was VERY pregnant with twins?  I started noticing I was attracting a large amount of attention.  At first from our City Police and Sheriff Deputies.  They were just sort of keeping their eyes on me.  I noticed people along the route were waving and enjoying the marchers ... but when they saw me going along like a human float they sort of froze with odd looks on their faces.

In retrospect, I must have been quite the sight.  I got to ride the whole parade - I am sure much to the relief of parade goers who really, really, did not want a Memorial Day memory of a local official giving birth on Park Avenue!   

After all, there is such a thing as being TOO close a community ;-)