Family, Fireworks, and Freedom! Yay America!

Hello Everyone,

I hope that everyone had a great Holiday. You've got to love the 4th of July. It's not like any other Holiday we celebrate here in the States. Mom's not in the kitchen driving herself half-way crazy trying to cook some kind of four star Rachel Ray miracle feast like she does at Christmas. Dad's not on the couch, screaming for his beloved Eagles (they are great though) to win like he does at Thanksgiving. With Independence Day, Americans should pat themselves on the back. They got it right, by every definition of the word Holiday.

This might not be your vision of the Holiday, but mine normally goes a little like this. My mom, a thoroughbred southern lady from Tennessee, makes only the essential edibles for this summer celebration: corn on the cob, some type of pasta salad, hamburgers, and the quintessential hotdog (which is as American as cowboys, Ford trucks, and blue jeans). Dad normally plays lifeguard, meaning he sits by the pool with a drink, that is before he gets up and challenges someone to a game of horseshoes. My father was on the 1968 Olympic team. or at least that's the way he likes to tell it. And everyone else just eats, swims, and plays outside. My favorite part of the Holiday is that, if you break something, blow something up, or set something on fire, you're actually contributing to the celebration. Fireworks are awesome. The only thing better than fireworks is Mom watching Dad set off the fireworks. It's hard not to smile as she cringes as the old man uses his cigarette to light off these colored works of boom. Nobody else worries though, because we all know Dad was in charge of the pyro for KISS... or at least that's what he says.

Yes, the Holiday always proves to be very comical and fun, but that's not what makes it truly great. The 4th of July is kind of a weird Holiday in that we call it our Independence Day. We Americans only gained our freedom from our colonial oppressors because we came together and had enough faith to depend on our families and neighbors. On the Holiday, I find myself surrounded by the people I depend on to give me encouragement, happiness, and love. So yes, it is true that America became a strong country the day we declared our independence, yet we became a stronger a nation when we came together as a nation. A nation where people are free to celebrate with the ones they love. A nation where a red-headed kid can dream of growing up to be a race car driver, or anything for that matter. A nation where my dad can be on every Olympic team ever... or so he likes to think. But in the end, there's nothing wrong with that.