Where was everybody?

As in years past, I attended the Memorial Day service at the small cemetery in Bay Village. Normally, a parade happens immediately afterward, leading back to the town square. The parade was cancelled this year (in 1944, thousands of Americans paraded up a beach through deep water and withering machine gun fire, but now we are hesitant to stand by the side of a road catching candy, because we might also catch ... y'know).

Normally, there are a couple hundred people at the service – this year, a couple dozen. I counted a total of three children.

Apparently, sans a parade, there isn't a good enough reason for people show up to remember and show gratitude, and for parents to teach their kids a pretty valuable lesson about where they came from, and who they came from. Sad and inexcusable.

– Randy DeMuesy, Westlake