Bo at the Vergennes Memorial Parade in 2019 Credit: Cat Cutillo
Watching the Vergennes Memorial Day Parade every spring is one of our family traditions. When we lived in Vergennes, we would walk to the parade with my daughter Remy’s toy ride-on tractor in hand so she could watch the giant tractors roll by while sitting on her own mini version. Last year, my son, Bo, sat on that same tractor during the parade. We have both created memories and also started to relive similar experiences every year at this parade — which is held to remember and honor those we’ve lost.
This Memorial Day, the parade was canceled. We decided to fill the void by doing something new.
Remy blades on the Burlington Bike Path Credit: Cat Cutllo
Our family created our own mobile parade, riding our bikes and rollerblades on the Burlington Bike Path. It was the first week since mid-March we ventured into a more public arena. We went early and the path it was mostly empty. The beat of the parade was replaced this year by the sound of wheels on pavement. We pulled over at North Beach to look at the lake, staring out at the infinite space of possibility.
North Beach, Memorial Day 2020 Credit: Cat Cutillo
We have wandered off the map of predictability. With a calendar of cancellations this summer, there are no go-to events for us to fall back on. Autopilot is out of order. There is both sadness from that loss and relief that there is space now for something new.
Alison Novak is a staff writer at Seven Days, with a focus on K-12 education. A former elementary school teacher in the Bronx and Burlington, Vt., Novak previously served as managing editor of Kids VT, Seven Days' parenting publication. She won a first-place...
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