Decked out
in red, white and blue
my family —
grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins —
headed to George and Biba Becton’s
for the annual fourth of July picnic.
Sliced spiral-cut ham,
homemade snowflake rolls,
creamy lemon butter,
dewy watermelon
covered a table festooned
in festive crepe paper.
The day’s highlight,
my Uncle Peter,
fire chief,
riding atop
a gleaming red truck,
sun-tanned and handsome
from summer days spent fishing
off Long Beach Island.
As if yesterday,
the echo of this parade
from childhood
rises in technicolor,
more real than the
sun outside my window.
A Reading Life 
Your words paint a VIVID picture. Including that table of food! Wow, riding on the red firetruck. You really show us how strong this memory is.
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I love all of your descriptions! They paint such a vivid picture. What a great memory to reminisce on.
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Beautiful imagery! The dewy watermelon and your tan uncle on the red truck capture that quintessential Americana summer tradition perfectly. I’m recalling my great grandmother on a float during the bicentennial 4th of July parade, my sister and I in matching red, white and blue outfits.
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