Christmas parade

This is an extremely honest post that should probably go in my journal rather than my blog.  Last night was the Columbus Christmas parade.  We stood outside in 70 degree weather (only in Mississippi is it that warm in December) for what was one of the most ridiculous things I've seen.

Let me preface this post by saying Garrison really did enjoy the parade.  He loved the bands (because of the drummers) and the fire trucks.  Don't he and his daddy look cute???

Are there horses in every Christmas parade?

Anyone who knows us knows that one of Will's best friends is black.  Orlando is a God send in Columbus.  He loves Will like a brother.  For the last two Thanksgivings we have had dinner at his mom's house with his WHOLE family.  So....I have been a proponent of Garrison going to public schools because I don't want him to grow up in a "white only" world.  But I've also come to realize that exposing him to other cultures and people who are different from us is mine and Will's responsibility.  Garrison will always be friends with Nazir (Orlando's 2 year old son) despite where he goes to school.

The last year or so Will and I have really been questioning where we will send G to school.  And more and more we've fallen in love with the Catholic school (I'm not claiming on here that's where he will definitely go, but it is an option).  More than where he WILL go, we've discussed where he WILL NOT go.  And last night was the nail in the coffin for me.  There is no way in h*ll he will go to the Columbus city public school.

As the bands and dance teams marched by, and the beauty queens rode by in their convertibles, and the clubs from schools rode by on floats, there were no white kids. So not only do I not want G to grow up in a "white only" world, but I don't want him to be the only white kid.

Here is a "float"...

The 4th runner up in a pageant.  4th runner up....really?  That's kind of humiliating.

I also had another revelation after I got home from the Christmas parade.  We have no friends here.  Will, Garrison and I stood for the whole hour Christmas parade just the three of us.  Everyone in Columbus is related to someone and they all do stuff with their families.  And most people have grown up here, so they have built in friends.  They don't realize how hard it is to make friends as adults, so they never invite "outsiders" to do things with them.

When I got home I realized that I was happy and content the whole time during the parade with is just being the 3 of us.  I honestly didn't even realize until we got home that we didn't talk to anyone else.  But then it hit me like a ton of bricks.... for it being a community event, we didn't have much "community."  Columbus has been an extremely hard place for us to live.  I pray God moves us quickly.  And if He decides we have to stay in Columbus a little longer, I pray the time goes quickly until Josh and Meredith move here.