Fourth of July

"Madelyn! Happy Fourth of July, Sweetie!"

"Why? We can't shoot fireworks in the dessert, even though it rained last night," came a sleepy reply from a lump under the covers somewhere near the foot of my bed.

"Well, I know that it won't be like it is at Gramma Mary's house. But, you are old enough to appreciate the other tradition that we had on Firecracker Day with Grampa Kent."

"Humph."

"We got to drink all the pop we could drink, as long as we finished the can we opened before we opened a new one."

"So. That doesn't sound like fun."

"Really? So if I took you to Wal-Mart and said you could buy any soda you wanted, you wouldn't care at all?!? I always loved Strawberry. Gramma Shirley always made sure her granddaughter had Strawberry in the cooler for the Fourth."

"Eh"

"Wow. I never let you have soda. You surprise me, Madelyn. Oh. Wait. I said 'any' soda, right? That includes Dr. Pep..."

"..OKAY! Yes!"

I have no idea what happened to that blob in my bed. The covers were ripped off and something somersaulted down the hallway to get dressed. I had no idea Dr. Pepper was such a prize.

But Madelyn's Aunt Megan understands. I will have to ask her.

So here is to all the soda you can drink, the hotdogs you can grill, the corn on the cob you can slobber over, and the watermelon you can slurp. Here is to all the dogs who will be hiding, the firemen on call, the police protecting the roads from drunk drivers, and the soldiers protecting your freedom to make all of this possible.

But, most of all, here is to the politicians.  May you spend this day reflecting on your history lessons from your youth. May you remember what this country is about, why it was founded. Read up on the path that our Founding Fathers were forced to take in order to make this country so unique, and so great.  Understand what lengths the writers of the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution went to to protect its citizens, and the intentions behind these two documents. Study, so you can do your job more efficiently, because of right now, all I see are two three year-olds fighting over broken toys.  Stand up, grow up, and fix it!

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