Weekend proved to be a time of many firsts for me
Commentary By Danielle Pelkey
The North Jefferson News
This weekend held many “firsts” for me.
On Friday night, I attended my 10-year high school class reunion. This actually proved to be a great time. We met and, of course, we ate. We looked at old pictures and laughed at how skinny we all were 10 years ago. We talked about our kids and spouses and reminisced about old times.
There were only two other classmates that were unable to attend, so we were glad to have the rest of us there. When you graduate with only 10 people, it’s much easier to get everyone together.
There were stories told of crazy things that we all did and some that we wanted to forget. There were plenty of old war stories and lots of laughing for three hours straight.
After this fun and exciting time of catching up, my family headed to Point Mallard Park. We met up with some friends of ours and camped out for the weekend.
I had no idea that this awesome little place even existed. They had a thing called the Alabama Jubilee, which is a a weekend filled with hot air balloons, funnel cakes, lemonade, swimming, concerts and other fun activities.
I think I ate about four funnel cakes each day. Todd helped me eat them, though.
The most unique thing that I did was riding in a hot air balloon. It was fun, but I wouldn’t want to do it for an extended amount of time.
At Point Mallard there is a huge water park, tennis courts, ice skating rink, bike riding trails and camp sites. We sat around the camp fire with marshmallows and talked about whatever topic crossed our minds. There was no mention of politics or gas prices because we wanted to keep the mood light and happy for this weekend.
My daughter, Raygan, had her most exciting moments while playing in the dirt and rocks at the camp site. She looked like a woolly booger when she got finished playing. We let her get as dirty as she wanted and then bathed her off for bed. She looked like a camping kid and I wasn’t ashamed of that at all. The weather was perfect this whole weekend for any type of outdoor activity.
It was a wonderful weekend spent with good friends. Those are the type days that you don’t ever want to forget.
After these two exciting events, I did something a little more familiar on Monday. We went to the river with my family and cooked out, as we do on every Memorial Day.
I think most people eat too much food on Memorial Day, but we spend more time outside with our families and friends, and that is worth every extra calorie that I take in. At our place on the river, there are flags flown and prayers prayed. We always thank God for helping our soldiers and pray for His protection over them.
All in all, this exciting weekend ended with thankfulness to the people who made it possible. Thank you, soldiers, for all that you do.