The LuLac Edition #2090, June 14th, 2012

The American Flag.  

FLAG DAY REFLECTIONS 

Today is Flag Day and as I think about this holiday, a flood of memories come back to me. As a young boy, during the last week in May, I remember visiting our family cemeteries on what was still referred to as “Decoration Day”. There are numerous black and white photos of my cousins, the Yonki’s, Pribulas and Semans all posed before a gravestone. I don’t know why the youngest generation was posed in front of a tombstone but there had to be some reason for the continuity. I remember the flags being put on houses for big holidays like the fourth of July. At my mother’s family’s homestead at 1197 Wyoming Avenue, there was a flag that flew every holiday. And even on Election Day. As a young child, it loomed very large in my life. When John Kennedy came to town, someone bought small flags (big by today’s miniature standards) and waved them as the motorcade wound its way through Pittston Junction. Through the years the flag was a symbol of ceremony. When JFK was shot, that flag draped coffin was to me, more haunting than the Eternal Flame. As the 60s wore on, when that flag was burned in protest, I was at a complete loss as to why that symbol was attacked and defiled. When relatives who served in the military passed on, the flag presentation to the next of kin was not only moving but part of a ritual of a life and service well deserved. Throughout my life, the flag was a symbol of ceremony. But as I get older, the flag and its importance creeps up on me in unexpected moments. The other night, as the rain departed and the brilliant sun lt the clear blue sky, Mrs. LuLac and I went for a drive. Turning onto James Musto Blvd I looked to my left and saw the huge flag flapping majestically in the wind. I didn’t expect the majesty. I didn’ty reflect on the sacrifices of those who went before me. I didn’t think about the ceremony that might be involved in it. I just felt a serene sense of being at home. Being in a place that I belonged. I was in America. And I was grateful and proud. And happy. In addition to its inspiration and place in our ceremonies, large and small, the flag does a very simple thing. It just makes you happy.