July 4th

My favorite holiday.
Just a few short years ago, my house was full of friends and their families. Each year, all were gathered for food and drink and play with the other children.
Sparklers in the street, cartwheels in the yard, pictures to remember it all by.
This year I was home, just me and my daughter...so different from the years before.
As we sat together, watching the show from the houses around us, I was reminded of the "4th" in the first summer of my marriage. I stood alone in the driveway watching fireworks in the distance, after my husband declined to watch them with me. As I stood there, that hot buggy summer night, listening to the sounds of a faraway show, I allowed the tears to run down my cheeks. I was alone in my sadness mixed with joy.
This year, sitting in the canvas chair, watching with my girl in my lap, I felt her flinch in fear with each launch. She said to me, "I don't like the loud boom...but I'll suck it up, because I know how much it means to you." My daughter is an amazing little girl. Her words were a gift that meant more to me than she will ever know.
~L