I woke up this morning feeling tiny pieces of excitement that I used to feel on this day. The anticipation of a loud and happy celebration. My mind went to the dozens of 4ths that I have celebrated. The cannon blast waking up the Monroe residents who dared to sleep past 7am. The crowds at the city parks. The picnics. The special treats of red, white and blue. The parades, and the music….bands and marching. The sprinklers in our front yard, a delight to the grandkids in their swim suits. Don’t forget the slip-n-slide, and the fireworks–2 varieties 1) the small on-the-sidewalk ones that delight and terrify young ones and dogs, often lit off way before dark because they will be long in bed before 2) the big ones at 10PM. Sometimes we watched the big ones from our roof, and now we drive to them, and I still feel the excitement I felt watching them launched from the city hill, very visible from our childhood back yard. This year my heart is heavy. I have no grandkids to celebrate with me this year. No squeals of delight. No sparklers. No picnic. No swim suits. And that is precisely why I am not in the mood to post a patriotic poem today! Perhaps I’ll have more time to contemplate the great gift of freedom, and the price that has been paid, and rejoice that I am so blessed to live where I do, and to have the family that I have. Today I will thank God abundantly for these amazing blessings! What will you do today?
I’m glad we stayed up late for a couple of normal early nighters because driving around and seeing the celebrations and watching the fireworks reminded me of how fun the 4th can be with your family. I haven’t been able to celebrate it for a year or two and it was a lot of fun, even just a quick firework show. I know you miss having the kids closer, especially during the holidays. You sure know how to throw a party and make life a fun and wondrous adventure. I’m not a little kid anymore (mostly) but I’m glad to live near you so we can do a double date once in awhile.
I’m so glad you were able to do that with us. It turned a dull holiday back into a great and memorable time. I’m looking forward to more double dates!