"THE 19th of APRIL"

“One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.” (Romans 14:5)

Monday is “Patriots Day” and also Marathon Day in Massachusetts. It’s also Patriots Day in Maine. I THINK Maine and Massachusetts are the only two states that observe the holiday. One thing that I think is cool about THIS Patriots Day is that it falls on the 19th of April.

I suppose this will make me sound like an old geezer to some, but I remember the days BEFORE we had so called “Monday holidays”. February 22 was “Washington’s Birthday” and it was celebrated on whatever day it fell upon. October 12 was “Columbus Day”. April 19, in Massachusetts, was Patriots Day. Memorial Day was always May 30. True, Labor Day was always the first Monday in September, but I think that was the only holiday that always fell on a Monday.

My mother, and a lot of people of her generation and older not only always called Independence Day, “the Fourth of July”, but they named most holidays (except for Labor Day, Christmas, and New Years’) that way. To my mother, the upcoming holiday was always, “the Nineteenth of April”. I believe Massachusetts was the first state to adopt “Monday holidays” back around 1967, and within four or five years, the federal government followed our example. I think it’s kind of too bad. I wouldn’t mind seeing the holidays revert back to the schedule upon which they were celebrated fifty years ago.

The Boston Marathon is the Super Bowl of Marathons! I feel really privileged to live in Framingham, right along the Marathon route! Last year, I was in Missouri for Patriots Day, and boy was that a bummer....no holiday...no Marathon...no nothing! I’m glad to be here this year!

I also feel a connection to Patriots Day because of Paul Revere. Tourists visit Paul Revere’s house in the North End of Boston. THAT was Paul Revere’s “town house”...where he stayed in the city and he WAS a wealthy and successful man. His “real house”...his HOME was in my hometown of Canton, Massachusetts...about 17 miles from downtown Boston and about 5 miles from the Boston city line. In the 1770s, Canton was part of the Town of Stoughton. (Today, Canton and Stoughton are bitter sports rivals, so that’s a hard pill for Cantonians to swallow!) Canton was incorporated as a separate town in 1797. Somebody thought that Canton was exactly opposite Canton, China on the globe (it’s not even close!) and that’s how Canton got its name. I believe Canton, MA was the first “Canton” in the U.S.A. (and Springfield, MA was the first “Springfield” in the U.S.A.). Today, many states have “Cantons” and “Springfields”. Did you also know that Paul Revere’s dominant ethnic background was FRENCH, like mine? His original last name was Riviere.

I hope I haven’t bored most of my readers to tears. I’ll have to stand outside your window and yell, “THE BRITISH ARE COMING!!” That’ll wake you up!

Happy Patriots Day, everybody!