Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
Home and Religion
At the Homecoming Parade

At the Homecoming Parade

Last updated on: September 14, 2024 at 8:25 pm by Mary Pezzulo

0 Comments

At the Homecoming Parade 2024-09-14T20:25:41-04:00 Mary Pezzulo

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I went to see the Homecoming parade.

High school homecoming in a town in the Ohio river valley is our version of Mardi Gras. Our local, notorious public high school is downtown by the river where there’s no room for a stadium, so the stadium is up by the middle school just a little ways from my house. The players, the cheerleaders, the marching band and the Homecoming court parade down Brady Avenue from the park to the school before kickoff, and it’s quite the occasion.

Adrienne was already at a good spot on the parade route with The Gang, so I went out by myself. I walked through the alleys where the shadiest trees were, past the house we rented for a few months when she was a toddler, through the bottleneck, past the block with the apartment building where the horrendous botched attempt at a homebirth happened. Adrienne told me she has hardly any memory of those houses, but I remember every square inch. It hurts to think about them, and all the walking I did with that squeaky stroller with the bad wheel when she was little. We were even poorer then than we are now. I was constantly terrified we’d be homeless.

As if I’d conjured it with my memories, there was a stroller with a squeaky wheel coming towards me. “Hi, Miss Mary!”

It was the Lady of LaBelle, the grandmother of the Baker Street Irregulars, pushing one of her little nephews in a folding stroller. There was a plump canvas bag stuffed with plastic bags hanging from the handles of the stroller. The autistic Baker Street Irregular was skipping along next to her grandmother in a pair of bright pink Crocs, but she ran to skip next to me instead when she saw me.

This particular Baker Street Irregular is short for her age and rail-thin due to a genetic disorder, in addition to her autism and a smattering of other diagnoses– she is in the second grade, but her preschooler sister towers over her. She has patches of dark hair missing from where she’s had trouble learning not to pull, and a beautiful pale face with great big blue eyes. She looks like a tiny elf from a fairy story, and I look like a fat overgrown hobbit, and we are both autistic. We get along.

She stuck her tiny hand in my plump one, and we walked together.

Before long, we were all at the parade route: the Lady of LaBelle, the baby nephew, a collection of Baker Street Irregulars from toddler age all the way up to middle school. Adrienne and The Gang were somewhere in the crowd, not too close to me so they didn’t look uncool. A police officer was parked on the curb, waiting to stop traffic at the corner. Grandma was passing out the plastic bags she’d brought. The children were clamoring to get closer to the road. The Autistic One complained that she couldn’t see, and nearly had a shrieking meltdown. That reminded Grandma that it was time for her evening medicine, which she produced. The Autistic One counted the pills and said that there were three instead of two so she wouldn’t take them.

“That’s the new pill your doctor wants you to try!” pleaded Grandma.

“Oh!” I coaxed. “That means you’ll be healthier than ever! Down the hatch so you can watch the parade!”

The Autistic One consented to take her pills as long as I gave them to her, so Grandma put them in my palm. One, two, three, down the hatch without any water, but the parade did not come.

The children became frantic, craning their necks to look down the hill, leaning out so I feared that a passing motorist would knock their heads off. I kept pleading that we’d know the parade was on its way when the policeman stopped the traffic. Finally, he got out!

“The parade! It must be ready to start!” I cried, but it did not come. Instead, the officer stopped the traffic coming through at the green light, and beckoned for the red light traffic to come, confusing everyone.

One of the cars had a TRUMP bumper sticker.

“Trump,” Grandma scoffed, as if it was a dirty word. “I’m voting for the woman! The woman!”

Now I was surprised, though I shouldn’t have been. “You are?”

“Yes! Trump hates the poor! That man hates the poor! He’s gonna wreck the whole country! I’m going to vote for that woman.”

“Camelia Harris?” asked the Baker Street Irregular who plays the violin. “Chameleon Harris?”

I corrected the name as the policeman directed the next batch of confused drivers to run the red light.

The Autistic One was beside herself and nearly ran in front of the cars.

And then I saw the parade.

A second police car inched towards us at barely two miles per hour, lights flashing, a small child who represented the elementary school leaning out the window and waving. Behind it was a fire truck which gave a merry “HONK HONK” as it passed the Baker Street Irregulars. Next came the cheerleaders and the band.

I wish everyone could feel what I feel when passed by a great big marching band. There’s something about a snare and bass drum that make my whole body shake inside as if I, myself, am a drum, and it feels wonderful. It feels as if I didn’t have a heartbeat a moment ago and now I am a living thing. I stimmed back and forth to the music while the children bounced in place. I wished the band had been ten miles long.

After the marching band came children representing the elementary and middle schools, all with banners, some riding flatbed trucks and some marching. All were escorted by teacher and parent volunteers. And all the volunteers had candy.

That was what those bags were for. Every time a teacher threw a handful of treats, they’d dive into to the road. Jolly Ranchers, Dubble Bubble, three-inch Tootsie rolls, Blow Pops and Tootsie pops, all fell into the street like snow and were snatched up in a second, over and over again. The children didn’t so much pick up the treats as rake them off the street into their bags.

“Panem et circenses,” I joked to the Autistic One, who already had a Jolly Rancher stuffed in each cheek.

Next came the Homecoming Court, young woman after beautiful young woman riding in a convertible, each dressed up in a different pastel ball gown and bedecked with a tiara. Apparently each of these girls was a contestant to be the queen, and they’d draw the name of the one true monarch at halftime during the game. The Autistic One called them “The crowns.”

“I see the crowns!” she cheered around her Jolly Ranchers. “I see the crowns!”

The crowns had attendants who also threw generous gobs of candy; in addition, they passed out other baubles like sunglasses and pink pens. The children’s bags were getting heavy.

Somewhere in there was the actual football team, in uniform, looking happy but awkward at the accolades. And yes, they were throwing candy as well. Gallons of it.

It was all over too soon.

I went home in the cool of an Appalachian near-twilight, feeling that odd combination of exhaustion and excitement that is right next door to Heaven.

Again, as I have so often lately, I realized that I am happy.

I am not used to being happy.

I would like to be happy forever.

Mary Pezzulo is the author of Meditations on the Way of the Cross, The Sorrows an d Joys of Mary, and Stumbling into Grace: How We Meet God in Tiny Works of Mercy.

Steel Magnificat operates almost entirely on tips. To tip the author, donate to “The Little Portion” on paypal or Mary Pezzulo on venmo

Home and Religion

Previous Post

September 13, 2024

Will You Walk With Me?

Next Post

September 15, 2024 I Believe in Flyover Country

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"Thank you for bringing so much goodness into the lives of so many children.Ran across ..."

alwayspuzzled

The Passion of the Red Oak

"This current administration has had me reflecting on the Nuremberg trials and the like, for ..."

axelbeingcivil

On Traditionalist Bullies, and the Death ..."

"You're talking about supercessionism, the idea that Christians "replace" the covenant that the Jewish people ..."

Alex

Yes, the Old Testament is About ..."

"Oh I'm sure it did."

Mary

A Televised Execution is a Moral, ..."

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abortion Abuse Advent America American Christianity angel angels Annunciation Appalachia apparition apparition chaser apparition chasers apparition culture art art review babies baby baby Jesus Bad Lip Reading bad statue contest bath beauty Bible story blog blogkeeping blood book review Brandon Sanderson breastfeeding bus Catholic catholic conspiracy alarmism Catholic Oppositional Disorder Charismatic Renewal Charlie the Cat chastity Christ Christian idenitity Christianity and Judaism Chronic Illness clean clothing COD piece comedy compassion conscience conspiracy theory conversion cop-on-black violence Crucifixion cry of the poor culture Daesh Daily Saints death death penalty devotional diaconate diaper diapers dirty disability Donald Trump Dorothy Day dream drugs Eastern Catholicism Eastern Christianity education election election update Elsewhere on Patheos empathy environment Fear feminism film review fish flashback fluffy buns food Franciscan University of Steubenville Friendship Room fun Gabriel gardening gospel hair-splitting Heaven hell heresy Hillary Clinton history Holly the Witch Holy Spirit holy war Homeschooling homosexuality horror human dignity humor Icon idol immigrants infection inter-religious dialogue Interpretation of Scripture Islam Jesus Jihad Joseph joy laity and lay vocations lamb dinner laundry lent lgbtq literature love manners Mary Medicine and Science Meditation mercy mess milk misogyny Missouri monasticism monster motherhood mourn with those mourn movies movis music mystery nature neurodiversity New Pro-Life Movement news nonsense nostalgia O antiphons obituary objectification Ohio Valley Ordinary Time ordination Ordo Amoris parable paradox Passover peanut butter personal beliefs pets philosophy Planet Charismatic poetry politics polls poop Pope Francis Pope Leo power in the Church prayer prayer request prayers preferential option for non-violence president presidential election priest primary private revelation pro-life prophecy Public face of Catholicism Pure Flix Q and A race racism random rape rape. sexuality reader's request Reckoners refugee religious trauma ressurrection Right to life Saints saints and celebrations same-sex same-sex marriage satire scandal secular feasts seder Seven Joys Seven Last Words sex sexual ethics sexuality silencing six months skid row slavery social justice Speculative fiction spiritual abuse spoon stain story suffering suffrage suffragette Sunday Gospel temple Tenebrae Responsories Terror the exorcist The Friendship Room The New Pro-Life Movement Things I Learned on the Internet tin cup traffic true story tv review Uncategorized USCCB vice and temptation violence Virtue virtue and vice war Way of the Cross whimsy whole life women's ordination work of mercy Year A

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What Christian group is known for using the term "General Conference"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Presbyterians Seventh-day Adventists Baptists Lutherans