July 4th Holidays

Tomorrow marks the first of July. With that in mind, we embark upon our true National Holiday. We as Americans celebrate some other national holidays, but this is our True one. The one where our freedom is remembered and celebrated annually. Most of us don't take the time to appreciate what this day really means.
Oh, sure it is a day (or few days) off from the rat race, met with family and friends grilling and eating ice cream and watermelon. The day is culminated with fireworks and mosquitoes and everyone goes home hot, tired and feeling good for another year.
We may even listen to a tad of patriotic music as we watch the fireworks with the added appropriate ohhs and ahhhs.
We have freedom....freedom to choose to worship our God. Our country tends to forget that is what we came over here for. To get away from the dictatorship of telling us what we can and cannot do. Now we cannot have a nativity or the mention of God on our courthouse lawns. The atheist have made sure of that. Their claim is that by adding God to our country their rights are not met. Hello!!!! Anybody listening???? We moved here to have the choice to worship our God in our own way. That would be by having prayer in our schools, God on our courthouse lawns at Christmas , "under God" in our pledge and the gospel allowed to be spoken over the airwaves . Now in saying that, If you do not Believe, you have the right to omit "Under God" and you have the right not to admire the Nativity, but you have the obligation not to celebrate the Christmas Season, also. Cannot have your cake and eat it, too. (So to speak.)
Now to get off my soapbox and recant some wonderful July 4th memories....As a child, our 4th was spent at Walnut Ridge and Portia every year having a fish fry or a feast. No hamburgers and chips for this family. Many years it was catfish and all the trimmings. As I got older, it was roast, fried chicken, fresh garden veggies and desserts galore. We had to make this trip every year so that my dad could make his annual trek to the Portia picnic. He would sometimes take me along but this was a trip for him. Every person he had every met in Lawrence County would be there and he would have to talk to them. I would politely stand by his side, observing all the rides that I knew I would not be allowed to ride. All the other kids got to ride and have fun....I got to stand by my dad and listen to conversations about the weather and how it would affect crops.
I don't think I ever shot off a firecracker until I had a drivers license.
After my kiddos came along, it was a treat to go to the Elks lodge and watch the fireworks at night. Yes, we had burgers, dogs chips and watermelon. Things I missed as a kid. In 1983 we sat on the Jernigan's lawn and had a perfect view of the fireworks. The only difference is that it probably was still 95 degrees that night and I was 3 days from delivering Blake. I was miserable and Jeremiah kept crying that the noise hurt his ears. I thought..."Am I crazy? I don't like it, Jeremiah doesn't like it, Doug is mad at Jeremiah because he is upset and Douglas is upset because he thought we were going to leave early. What in the world am I doing?" Looking back it was a wonderful memory. I was not at the time. How time changes things we remember!!
Later in life, Doug and I went to Atlanta to visit friends one summer. While we were there, the four of us went to Stone Mountain for the laser show. This was before lasers were everywhere. The finale was Lee Greenwood singing his famous song "I am proud to be an American". The evening was awesome and I thought that one day I would take my kids back on the Fourth of July to see that. Yeah, right!! Me and ten million other people. That never did happen but I did think that would be the perfect 'Ward and June Cleaver' adventure.
Life changes, we grow older, kids grow up and there is a new generation now cooking burgers and dogs for their families, having wagon parades in the neighborhoods, and waving their flags of freedom to the music of outdoor concerts playing all our patriotic music.
War happens, peace happens, soldiers fight for our freedom today just like they did 225 years ago. Some come home, some don't, the price is high for you and me to live in the land of the free. Do NOT take the privilege lightly. Never fail to appreciate the people that fight for our freedom. On foreign soil and on our home soil. In the military and our law enforcement on city , county , state and federal levels. They protect us every day. We can never say that we are 100 percent safe but we can say that we have the best protection of any country on this earth.
I am proud to be an American,
today and always,
Vera