July 4th is my favorite holiday of the year! I've got such great memories of July 4th - no other holiday quite compares!
My Dad was the first in his family to emigrate to the USA in the early 60's. He is an extremely patriotic person. He instilled that value in his family. He always made sure to fly an American flag outside our home on every single national holiday (except Christmas & Easter). He would always offer up a heart-felt prayer of thanksgiving for our freedom and for America before we tore into our classic, celebratory meal of grilled hot dogs & hamburgers, homemade "best in the world" potato salad, macaroni salad, baked beans and watermelon.
When I was younger, before fireworks were outlawed in our city, we'd have some sparklers & a few noisy fireworks that we'd fire off in our driveway. When I was older, we made sure to find a huge fireworks celebration somewhere - sometimes at the local high school, sometimes at the beach, sometimes on TV. I still love fireworks to this day.
While we were in Africa, Burundi celebrated their Independence Day on July 1 with a huge parade. It was a pretty big deal!
Mike, Steve and I have already started celebrating - we began the day with an early breakfast at 5 & Diner, our favorite post-Africa tradition. When we returned home Michael hung the American flag outside our home. Dan texted the boys and asked them to watch Independence Day for him. Tonight, in lieu of firing up the BBQ, I plan to pick up Coke floats at Sonic, drive to a great viewing spot, and enjoy several of the City's finest fireworks displays from the comfort of my air-conditioned car.
Happy 4th of July everyone!
