My Fourth

The 4th here where I sit will be quiet.

I'm grateful for that.

And full of thanks.

Doesn't it blow your mind a little bit that all around us are brave men and wormen, heroes, folks who are serving our country in the military, as peace officers and firefighters, who served in our armed forces in the past. Just think that the elderly gentleman that I see walking by my house every day could have been on the front lines almost seventy years ago. Considering my aging daddy and uncles in their eighties and nineties, it's difficult to reconcile what I know of their past with their present frail states.

We will celebrate the 4th of July on the 6th with fireworks on the lake in Arkansas with my hubs' uncle who will turn 90 on the 7th. He is a gentle sweet fellow, somewhat quiet. The checker at the local Kroger doesn't have a clue that he was a Seabee, United States Navy Construction Battalion, who landed on the beach at Normandy amidst the horrific aftermath of the battles of D-Day as part of the naval combat demolition units. Their mission was to destroy the steel and concrete barriers the Germans had built to prevent amphibious landings.

I hope to record him, if he is willing, telling his experience. The dog groomer who makes his little white dog whiter and sweeter smelling every other Thursday has no what he did in June 1944 in France to ensure she could live safely and peacefully decades later.

I need to email him today and thank him for his service. All Americans should be so thankful today. And, frankly, so should the rest of the world. Can you even imagine what the world situation would be today if the US had not fought and sacrificed in World War II?

So, I have to utter a hearty thank you to all these courageous folks that have sacrificed for us that we could barbecue and watch fireworks and listen to John Phillip Souza tonight. Maybe I'll phone my dad. Just to say thanks.

And today I fly my flag proudly. And thankfully.

And I hope I'll be a little less huffy when I pass the older white haired gentleman driving too slowly on the freeway. Heroes really are all around us.

Long may she wave!

Happy July the 4th to you and yours, whether it's loud and raucous and full of family and sparklers and parades or pleasantly quiet like mine.