There is nothing quite like The Fourth of July.
There are nothing but happy memories surrounding it! I suppose things have happened which weren’t, but I just don’t remember them. What I do remember are baseball games with my friends, swimming all day at the pool, an annual pony ride, picnics and lots of fireworks. I remember specific celebrations with clarity. When my Uncle Bob died, we went to Pittsburgh to gather with Aunt Dottie. Everyone went to the fireworks display together, and it was so spectacular! Streams of red, white and blue filled the sky from the clouds to the ground. It was raining patriotic celebration. I think Uncle Bob was lighting them with a cigar in heaven! I remember putting my babies on blankets at our country club in Danville, and making all of the “ooh and ahh” sounds my parents made with me on the same hillside years before. I remember lots of potato salad.
“You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbee’s, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.”
The founders of our country set up a dynamic system of freedom. We have come together each 4th of July to celebrate the truths which seemed self-evident 244 years ago...and remains so today. We are all created equal. This allows us to have deep feelings of home, patriotism and an abiding connection with each other. Each year at this time we gather from sea to shining sea. Disgruntled partisans can put aside their quarrels with the knowledge that our virtues far outweigh our shortcomings.
I remember the bi-centennial party at The Sandusky Homestead with all of my relatives and how awesome it was to be in our family home built just a little more than fifty years after the signing of The Declaration of Independence. Since then there have been so many celebrations. Each adding to the treasure trove of rich memories. This year will be different. The pandemic will keep a lot of the festivities muted or cancelled. But, we will get through this and past it. The hoopla and regalia will return in full force. In the meantime, here is a suggestion. Watch this little vignette from "The Sandlot" for a touch of tear jerking nostalgia. Happy Independence Day to one and all.