It’s Independence Day.
Are you reliving every 4th of July celebration of your life? I am……and since I am 65 there are a truck load of them.
My childhood was idyllic. We were, what I like to call, country with class (if there is such a thing)…. My mother and daddy loved celebrating holidays with family and friends. They never dreamed of vacations to Florida, the lake or God forbid Europe. Daddy fought in Europe and even if he had the money (and he didn’t) he wouldn’t have gone.
We celebrated at home in the country…. where we belonged, ha
I saved my money from picking up black walnuts (quit laughing) for fireworks. Never having enough, my parents always chipped in.
I was the little kid who shot juice cans in the sky beginning at 9:00 am. Mother started cooking early and people started showing up around noon. There were tubs of potato salad (I’m making it later today) and there’s no telling how much chicken mother cut up for daddy to grill. His grill was one of those cheap round ones and yes, charcoal. I close my eyes and I see him hot and sweaty with a handkerchief in his back pocket to wipe his face. I NEVER saw Buster in shorts or jeans. He always had on Khaki pants and a short sleeve shirt…..were there t-shirt then?
Mother would have frozen ice in large milk cartons so the hand cranked ice cream could happen. Her recipe had raw eggs in it and NO ONE died. It was the best in the world. I have the recipe if you need it, ha.
When it was dark enough the fireworks happened. lawn chairs were gathered and we all sat ready for the show. Roman candles, many hand held ,which we know is dangerous, but nobody ever lost a finger or a hand, and many other fabulous varieties that were so pretty!! We oohed and awed and I never thought about how tired my parents were when it was over, ha.
So now….?
My past as a parent has included wonderful celebrations with family and friends. Everything from trips to the beach to the wonderful homes of dear friends. Days where our children were little and loved playing together, fighting mosquitos and yes, shooting fireworks.
This morning we are preparing for a small group of dear friends. Our grown up kiddos have their own friends and the beach (as it should be) and we’re in charge of our own entertainment. It might not include mother’s ice cream (we’re watching our fat and cholesterol) but we’ll give in to potato salad and burgers.
What lives on?
We love America.
We celebrate our freedom.
We honor the memories of celebrations and loved ones past.
What’s different this year?
We’re (me) more mindful of how fragile our democracy really is. How the unimaginable might happen. We are aware of the anger and the ease with which some are giving freedoms away. We are amazed at the lack of understanding and appreciation of the constitution and our freedoms. We’re shocked when late night hosts do “man on the street” interviews with people who don’t have a clue about American history, politics or leaders, as if none of it matters.
It does matter.
So let’s agree this year to fly our flag, treasure our democracy and teach our children to do the same!
And if you want to…. shoot those fireworks.
Let Freedom Ring.
Walking Home 