the 4th

I was just thinking about the 4th of July today... you know, since it's tomorrow and all.
My memories as a kid of the 4th - we always went to the parade in the morning and then to the local fireworks show. It was so much fun. The whole city was pretty much dull except for those two events. The parade brought out rows and rows of people, and the fireworks was always packed and fun afterwards - we would walk home and there were tons of cars driving around. It felt like a big city for a few minutes.

After we got married, and our kids were small, Shawn and I would take the kids to different places to see fireworks. Big cities in the mountains, lakeside fireworks displays,...

Several years ago, our city stopped doing fireworks on the 4th and decided to not compete with an even smaller town 5 miles away. We started attending there regularly. And, truthfully, nothing compares to that small town display. It is fabulous and fun. Nothing beats hanging out at the school on the hill with all your friends and family, eating junk food and watching your kids whip sparklers around until they are deliriously dizzy. Then watching the fireworks display from a hill as you dodge ash that you are sure is going to land on you....all the while laughing and having a great time.

For some reason though... fireworks do something to me. Each year as I watch the fireworks, I am in awe of our freedom. Fireworks on the fourth of July to an American is a celebration of who we are as a nation.... the land of the free and the home of the brave. It is a reminder to me of the men and women who fight daily for that freedom. Men and women who put their lives in harms way on a regular basis to protect the freedoms that we often take for granted.

I am grateful for these people... and for the freedom we share in the USA.

Happy Independence Day!