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The 4th of July was a lot more than fireworks for me
in 1962. I was living and working in Morocco at Nouasseur
Air Base. That first year I was reminded what a high school
teacher had told me: "You'll never forget the chill
that goes down your spine when you're in a foreign land and you
hear America's National Anthem."
Oh, yes, how right she was.
Think back to when you ate your first hot dog, drank your first
lemonade, smeared home made ice cream down your chin, ran through
the yard sprinkler or a shower from a city hydrant. Can you taste
Aunt Dorothy's cake topped with burnt caramel sugar frosting?
Did your best friend Mary's grandmother (we all called her Ma)
make the world's most fabulous donuts dipped in sugar?
Look over there at your Uncle Pierce polishing his brand new black
Chevy. How many more hours before you can chase lightning
bugs and put them in a glass jar? Don't scratch those chigger
bites; they'll only get worse. When will you be old enough
to shoot off those lady fingers firecrackers? Why do I
always get the sparklers and not the big kid stuff? Don't you
dare come near me with that garter snake, boy!
Let me make an understatement here. July in Kansas is hot.
'Nuff said? We always tried to get back home to Edna, Kansas,
for the holidays, especially the 4th of July. Kansas City
had its own celebrations, but we wanted to go home.
My grandfather, aunts and uncles, in-laws and outlaws, the whole
family, got together. Alma, my Aunt Dorothy's sister, made
the most heavenly lemon drop ice cream. We took turns
in operating the hand crank. Herb, her husband, made pretty
good home brew beer. My cousins and I had to settle for
ice cream and soda pop or lemonade. The grownups could
drink the home brew if they wanted to. Ice cream and beer?
I repeat: July in Kansas is hot
We thought we had the biggest and best celebration in the whole
country. It was big enough for us. You could buy
fireworks in some of the grocery stores, from a stand in a parking
lot or on a corner. Little did we fear injury or fire because
kids are immortal and accidents happen to someone else.
Real life stepped in and gave us a lesson the summer that my
cousin Leonard was accidentally burned. He and some of
the other boys would light a firecracker, give it a toss at the
closest person. Lots of dodging, jumping, shouting and
laughing went on. One went off under Leonard's raised
armpit. That was the end of the laughter and brought on
a 16 mile drive over to the Coffeyville hospital's emergency
room. He wasn't seriously injured, just seriously scared.
Time goes by, you grow up, introduce your own youngsters to the
joy, meaning and beauty of Independence Day.
Now, however, many states
make it illegal to display fireworks in your own back yard.
Either you watch the huge fireworks program on TV, or you
go to a park and watch a commercial sponsor treat you to a great
show. Sure, you miss the thrill of causing the BANG! yourself.
Look at it this way, though. Didn't you get tired of worrying
about the drunk next door who set his roof on fire, and the fire
spread to yours?
This year, and all years, if you were an American in a foreign
country on the 4th of July, let's hope you were able to hum our
National Anthem to yourself if that's the only way you could
get to hear it. More than likely, an American abroad this
year is wearing camouflage fatigues or Navy denim.
Those of us back home were singing for you. We keep you
in our hearts, our prayers, and we'll keep the ice cream and
lemonade cold and waiting for you. I promise, you'll get
all you want once you return.
Here's a web site that shows fireworks over our Statue of Liberty.
Watch it in a darkened room to get the full effect.
http://www.njagyouth.org/liberty.htm
©2004 by Patricia
J. Geister. The drawing is from IMSI's Master Clips Collection,
1895 Francisco Blvd. E., San Rafael, CA, 94901-5506, USA.
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