Labor Day

It's weird when it's a holiday back home. Like today is Labor Day, for instance.
Not that I had even thought of it actually, but my son mentioned on the phone yesterday that he couldn't go to the bank today because well, it was Labor Day.
Do holidays still happen if you're not there?
Labor Day was always such a big deal, a strong punctuation mark in the year -- the end of summer, the beginning of school.
Not anymore.
First of all, they don't do Labor Day here -- and this is where I live. They did an end-of-summer Bank Holiday weekend last weekend, which I guess counts as their equivalent.
But it's not as big as Labor Day. It's just a Bank Holiday weekend, which comes at about the same time.
Then, more importantly, there's no school anymore, no kids to ready, no first-day packets to sign, no supplies to pick up, no back-to-school nights to mark on the calendar. My younger son went back to college in Charleston a couple weeks ago now. Colleges tend to go back long before Labor Day.
What else?
There's no three-day weekend off work like there used to be because I'm not working like that anymore. My two-week freelancing gig in London is done now, and the next time they want me is in three weeks time. They've said they need me a week a month from now on, which is a good start. But not for another three weeks.
Okay.
So, I guess I won't say good-bye to summer yet after all, even if it is Labor Day. And even though the Brits said good-bye pretty soon after they said hello.
I'll go back to Italy, where it's still hot, my neighbors tell me.
Even though I am a little scared of robbers now. I haven't spent a night there alone since I was robbed.
I can't let a gang of thieves put me off, though.
And I can't let thoughts of Labor Days past weigh me down.