A parade unlike the Rose Bowl parade

When I was probably in second or third grade we still were living in West Mifflin and I was attending Walnut Grove School. I can still recall what the school looked like as well as my teachers. My second grade teacher was Miss Bashista..I imagine she was never married because she was older and had a bit of grey hair mixed in with the brown.. My third grade teacher was Miss Manandice. She was quiet, tall, thin and in her forties. For some reason back then, teachers were not married...thus getting the name..."Old school marm, or spinster." Most of my teachers were not married but as I got older and graduated into high school them were.

One summer day, I guess we were all bored and found nothing much to do, someone came up with the idea of all the kids in the trailer park getting together and instrumenting a parade. It might have been my older sister because she seemed to have a large part of telling everyone what they were going to do! However, we worked and worked on this parade. The route it would take, who would be which character, and costumes. The theme was every holiday in the year....I think back now and think, "This was pretty ingenious." It took weeks to work up costumes for Santa Claus, Father Time, and the Uncle Sam costume was really good. I wish I had a photo or two of the parade, but the only one I have is in my mind. The person in front had a big sign...announcing the parade. No doubt it was a Sunday afternoon when most everyone were home. Back in the fifties, people never worked on Sunday. It was the day of rest and everyone did just that. No stores were open, everything was shut up and stopped until Monday morning. My character in the parade was to be Susan B. Anthony....she was the one that fought for the right for women to vote...I remember I had a big hat and a green striped blouse. I wore white gloves. I can recall in my minds eye exactly what I looked like and how we looked marching down the street. When we passed the few people that lined the street. They clapped at our marvel of inspiration. There is just something about seeing a child perform, something that an adult forgets they have. A true sense of imagination, a wonderous mind of "can do!"...Children are wonders of God, he gave them the fresh innocent love that only can dwell inside. A wonder of people, places and things. The joy of being able to say exactly what is on your mind, even if it is insulting. It is always taken and enjoyed from that child like mind....Somewhere along the path of adulthood we all lose that. Some place along life, that child like faith is looked down on...People have raised the bar. People have destroyed the innocence of that child like faith.....If an adult would say things like a child they would be held accountable and made known to be insulting or crude. How sad, children are ingenious, children are the future!!