Firework Montage

Watching the brilliant vibrant colors glittering in the night sky with the whiz, shiz, pop, and bang I started to feel nostalgic. For what? I’m not really sure why. Standing in the warm night with family feeling the night breeze evoked such thoughts and feelings as seem to surface around the holidays. Freedom still reigns in the United States of America. The midnight dark night sky became sparkling and lustrous as the brightest shining lights of the day.

Mingling with laughing, giggling men, women, and children as we watched the display of sparkling and glittering colored sparks in the sky; I recognized the sacrifice that many people have made for me to stand with family and friends enjoying the freedom in 2011.

Hearing the pops and bangs of the fireworks as the smell of sulfur filtered the air I reflected what it might have been like for the men and women fighting in all the wars – from the American Revolution to the current situation in the middle east. I am so thankful I have never had to experience being in a battle with the bangs and pops being bombs rather than fireworks. It was very difficult to imagine being in a bunker, or any place, knowing that I was the target for the next explosion.

My mother was a young woman in Europe during World War II, and she would tell us about scurrying to a bomb shelter in the dark, sitting there and hearing the whistling of the bombs as they were released from the plane. They would listen to the whistle and hear the explosion as the bomb landed. The people huddled together in the shelter and hoped they would survive the night – most bomb attacks occurred at night – and hoped their home would be intact when it was over.

Thank you so very much to all the people who are currently serving with the United States military! Your efforts are appreciated more than you will ever know.

My deepest appreciation goes to the people who have lost their life and to the families who have lost a loved one to protect this great nation.

Regardless of where we came from or how we arrived here – the United States of America is still the greatest nation on earth and the land of the free! Remember that the next time you celebrate Independence Day!