Independence Day

I hope everyone had a happy and safe Independence Day.  I love this time of year.  Besides that my birthday is a few days before July 4th, I just love spending time outside (from the hours of 8am-10am and 7pm-9pm when it’s not 100 degrees outside), and having all the festivities associated with Independence Day.  Is it just me or is it really a time when our country is united, despite all of our different views on homosexuality, with the gratitude of living in a free country?  We are SO BLESSED!!

Tommy and I have carried on a tradition my family and I have had for many years of attending the Lions Club’s firework show at Jackson Junior High (where I attended Jr. High in Amador County).  We park in the same spot every year in our secret spot by the Critchfield’s house (secret’s out), and then hike down to the field where we set up a blanket and watch the fireworks.  Thanks Lions Club!  When the band, consisting of mainly octogenarians, plays the Star Spangled Banner, I am usually caught between chuckling at that breathless trombone and getting choked up thinking of all the lives that have been sacrificed for my freedoms.

So, then the fireworks start.  Afton immediately jumped up into Tommy’s arms, crying.  And Micah just casually glances up to see what’s going on.  We convinced Afton that there was nothing to worry about, that this was actually a celebration and she calmed down. She had the same exact reaction last year!! This is what we looked like:

And Mr. Micah is 2 for 2 now. I worried that maybe he had hearing issues last year when he fell asleep in the middle of the fireworks at only 6 months old.  There is just something about chest-rattling explosions that lull Micah right to sleep. This is him a few minutes later.

But as I sat and thought about said explosions, I couldn’t help but think that it sounded like a battlefield.  And later on, at home I heard more fireworks (seriously, nobody will answer their doors on halloween, but on the fourth of July, EVERYONE was lighting off fireworks)  and just thought….these young kids.  Going off to war.  Giving their time, their comfort, and even their lives.  I am so sad that it is this way.  That the world is this way.  But so grateful that our freedoms and liberties are being protected.  It makes me think of a poignant song by Mason Jennings, The Field.  The first time I heard it was live and it gets me every time.  Written from the perspective of a parent whose child has died at war.  This will mean nothing to you unless you go listen to it on Spotify.  Bottom line is thank you. Thanks to our service men and women and thanks to the families of these people.

God bless America!