How do you spend the 4th of July?
In America, the 4th of July is a family fun-filled event. Some cities, like mine plan a 4th of July extravaganza. This year the St. Louis River front is being redone so the celebration will be held at Forest Park in St. Louis. It’s a really big deal because the city turned 250 this year and I think it’s the first time the park will host the fair. Everyone here is a buzz about the traffic, shuttles, and buss routes. I’m hoping to go one of the nights to see the fireworks but the crowds will be huge and that might keep me away.
I love the 4th of July with all the good food-yes I’m gluten free but there are some amazing hamburger buns out there, along with potato salad and watermelon…Now I’m hungry.
Then the fireworks, the sizzle, the bang and ooohs and awes that follow, what’s not to like?
It’s been a long time since America broke free from England. No one that I know of holds any anger toward that country, many of us have been there or would like to go. So why continue this celebration?
Here are my reasons:
I get to gather with my family informally. There’s no fine china or crystal at this party.
We play Scrabble, shoot BB guns, and slap mosquitoes before we sit back and watch my sons light up the sky. Every year my mom and I wonder if the bull frog will call out or be scared. He almost always has something to say.
It’s a chance to think about where I live and how thankful I am. It may sound arrogant, I don’t mean to be, but I think my country is the best. I can wear what I choose, speak freely about Jesus, and I can feel free to say what I think about politicians without fear. It’s my home, it’s what I know and I like being able to travel from coast to coast without a passport. Okay, I don’t have a passport and I seldom travel but when I do I like it to be easy.
I like that we stand shoulder to shoulder as a family to take a photo. It’s getting harder to do that now as my sons are grown and have brought wives and now a grandson into the photo. I want to be the family on the lawn that is so large it sprawls and the cameraman has to back far away to get us in the shot.
Those fireworks in the sky give me pause to think about those who have fought to give me a safe place to live. I am thankful. This past year I dug around ancestory.com to find out where my family came from. I discovered I had family that fought in the Revolutionary War. I had to sit back in awe, it’s rather unsettling and yet satisfying to know my family has a connection to those who made this a free country.
If you celebrate the 4th of July what makes it special for you?