Family and flea markets made fun day

I am now the proud owner of a multi-colored dragon. Its body is made from an old tool my grandfather would have called a brace. A brace is a hand tool used in conjunction with a bit to drill holes.
My cousin and his wife bought the dragon for me after I expressed admiration for a whole host of similar creations displayed under a tent at the Eaton, Ohio fairgrounds last weekend.
They bought it for me even though I coerced my cousin into pushing my mother's wheelchair. I noticed she put the brakes on for him as often as she did it to me.
We stopped at a display for a local rodeo shop and discovered the original owner was still alive and was sitting on a scooter next to the display.
We introduced ourselves as relatives of their first customer, my uncle Norman. At one time our families had been very close. In fact, Norman had been the owner's best friend. My uncle died at the age of 27 as a result of a rodeo accident.
I looked at the man and was shocked to realize that, had he lived, Norman would be elderly today. In my mind he will always be 27 and full of life.
We spent a long time reminiscing about the old days and cementing memories before moving on.
As we were about to leave I noticed a display of denim overall shorts that were my grandson's size so I purchased a pair for him. This grandma business gets expensive!
We strolled and chatted the afternoon away. At various times one or the other of us would break from the pack and stop at an interesting display.
At the end of the afternoon they kindly pushed my mom to the parking lot and I brought the car around. They met us later at her house. My brother and his wife joined us and I forced them all to look at pictures I had taken over vacation.
On the drive home the colorful metal dragon rode in the back seat while I reflected on the day.
I  normally hate flea markets and the event at the Eaton fairgrounds had essentially been one big flea market. I had enjoyed the day because I was with family.
We had reconnected with the past and caught up with someone we all used to know that none of us would have recognized if we had passed him on the street.
We shared similar frustrations with our daily lives and talked about how different our relationships with our children were from one family to another.  
We had provided my mom with a day out. It had been a bright, sunny few hours filled with friends and family. What more could one ask for? Plus I now have a dragon to remind me of how much I enjoyed a late summer afternoon.
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