May 30th (Real Memorial Day)

Monday is a ‘day off’ from Greeley pastor duties. So when a holiday falls on a Monday I get to pick another day. My Memorial Day was the “original” one before our political leaders decided they wanted ‘three-day weekends’. What had been just fine from 1868-1970 was changed. Well, this year I had an old school Memorial Day. I picked Jeremiah up by Union Station and we headed to the Cherry Creek Mall (15 minutes). My passenger started the conversation by asking if I was retired. “No, I flunked retirement. This is my Memorial Day, I do this for fun. I was just thinking about how, growing up, this was ‘opening day’ for Colorado

fishing 🎣 ”. He said, “I’m all in”.

I then shared, “What I really remember is riding in my dad’s ‘53 Chevy pickup with a wooden bed and port windows. He would put the AM radio on KCSJ ‘590 on your radio dial’ and we would listen to the Indy 500”. Well, the conversation was amped up to red-line speed. Jeremiah was a “gear-head”. He began to talk about the Monaco Grand Prix which just happened. He explained that Mercedes was doing the impossible, “Best racing team ever”. “Listening to a great race on the radio is the best – sounds in the background and the announcers keeping you on the edge of your seat”. “I remember Roger Ward, Parnelli Jones, AJ Foyt and the Unser family”. Then in 1970, they moved Memorial Day to the last Monday of May, Colorado went to year round fishing, and the magic faded.

Jeremiah continued to fill my car with all kinds of car racing facts. We had our holiday right there going down Lincoln Street. He was easily half my age. I have become that ‘old guy’ with stories. In the end the only ‘memorials’ that matter are stories about experiences and relationships.

Onward and Upward Mark