Until recently, I always felt like I observed the Fourth of July
from the sidelines.
Until recently, I always felt like I observed the Fourth of July from the sidelines.
Growing up, July Fourth at my childhood home lacked the usual pizzazz one may associate with Independence Day.
Sure, my parents, my brother, sister and I ate hotdogs, lit sparklers and watched fireworks. But traffic and crowds always kept us far away from parades, ballgames, concerts and pyrotechnic shows.
I can still hear my mom’s words ringing in my ears, “No, I don’t want to sit in traffic and watch fireworks from our car. We’ll never get home.”
So, instead of watching fireworks displays from a crowded ballpark, the beach or in a stadium, we watched the red, white and blue bursting lights from my parents’ bedroom window. Sure, my parents’ home in the foothills of San Jose boasted a great view, but it wasn’t the same.
My husband, Chris and I broke with tradition a few years ago and started celebrating the Fourth of July down the coast in Monterey. There we found a hometown parade complete with dogs, kids, marching servicemen and women, and fire trucks, an old-fashioned picnic with hotdogs and lemonade, and a fireworks display that could rival any.
In the midst of the festivities, I realized that it wasn’t the fancy fireworks shows or parades that I was missing. Instead, I realized it was sharing the day with others who also took pride in our country’s birth and felt lucky to live in a nation that affords us such freedoms as celebrating it.
On Friday, our 6-month-old daughter, Emma, will celebrate her first Fourth of July. It is several in a long line of firsts. First bite of cereal, first time sitting up alone, first time pulling her miniature dachshund, Lucy’s ears.
Today, we will tie red, white and blue balloons to her stroller. She will wear her blue and white striped gingham dress and sit with her Mom and Dad as they watch the parade march through downtown Monterey. In the park down the street, she’ll watch closely, mouth agape, as we eat hotdogs and cake with white icing.
And when night falls, her eyes will reflect the dazzling colors raining down from the black sky.
We will show her the Fourth of July we have come to know and love. And in turn, it will become her July Fourth tradition – the celebration she will remember when she is older.
She’ll be smack dab in the middle of the fireworks and fun, far away from the sidelines. And one day, she’ll learn what the day commemorates: the birth of a great nation, whose people struggle every day to not take for granted the privileges and rights we hold dear.
