Merrily we roll along

Every year around this time the home puts on an event called the "Hat Parade". I got to participate with Grandma this year. First they gather all the residents in the far dining/activity hall. Everyone has on their hats and wheels, anxiously anticipating an outing in the fresh air and sunshine. Most have family members who have shown up for the event, ready to push the wheelchairs for a couple of blocks. Some of the "pushers" have brought their own hats...like me. Of course, there are hats of every kind imaginable. The retired fire captian has on his white with a black brim dress hat, the farmer his straw hat, and one lady has a hat festooned with fresh flowers from her daughter's garden. As for Grandma and me, she's wearing the pink petal hat she wore in one of her children's weddings as mother of the bride or groom. I don't know who's. I am wearing the hat I made for the GEMS Mother/Daughter tea last year. After the activity director announces the route we would be taking, the parade is headed out the door. God provided a wonderfully warm and shiny afternoon for the parade...it couldn't have gotten any better. Out the door and into the sunshine the parade rolled past the apartments and then down the street. Oohs and Ahs were heard when we passed someone's yard who had particularly pretty and fragrant roses. Someone would say, "why I used to have roses like that". Around the block we wound, with a stop in front of a scotch broom bush in full bloom for the perfect photo op. and back into the home. The parade was over all too quickly for some, and not soon enough for others. Grandma was so happy to feel the sun on her face and smell the flowers. For me, it was another reminder that every moment spent with loved ones is precious and the little things in life sometimes mean the most to us. It's really true.... don't forget to take time to stop and smell the roses.