THE MAILMAN'S DAUGHTER MARRIED THE MILKMAN'S SON AND THE REST IS HISTORY

Labor Day Weekend is special for me.  Rather than working or shopping, what makes it so unique is listening to songs about work and marching in the annual Labor Day Parade. 

The weekend started out for us by my husband filling his hour of usual talk time on the radio, where he is the weekly volunteer host of the World of Work on WDVR-FM, with songs.  He played such classics as Dolly Parton's 9 To 5, Look for the Union Label by Joe Glazer and Five O'clock World by the Vogues.  On Sunday, we marched three miles to Paterson.  The parade began at the Botto House-American Labor Museum, in Haledon, N.J., where my husband volunteers on the executive board.

Our fathers would be proud.  Staunch union members, they marched on picket lines and got to walk with me on one.  My father and brother marched in the Great Postal Strike of 1970. 

My husband now fills his days defending workers' rights.  As a union lawyer and law professor, he is dedicated to making life better for working people.  He goes to the airwaves every week to give working people a forum to speak about their roles in making America work.  

Labor Day is a time to reflect on all our immigrant ancestors who came to this country for a better life and toil/ed to make it happen.  In memory of those such as my father the mailman and my father-in-law the milkman, I hope you had a relaxing, contemplative day and didn't make anyone else work.

Sharon Mark Cohen          July 1979