It’s Your Party

Since my birthday is two weeks after the 4th, I get to celebrate the 4th as well as my birthday in the month of July, two of my favorite days in the Summer.

Since I didn’t see this question until afterwards I will rewrite something for my birthday and share today what I miss about my 4th of July celebrations.

I really miss the 4^th of July celebrations of my younger days, and if I wasn’t stuck in bed today you can believe I would be having one heck of a big family BBQ.

I miss hearing kids yelling and screaming in fun as they played with the water hose or the garden sprinkler and for the lucky few, you can hear them splashing happily away in their little blow up kiddie pool.

I miss looking up and down the block and seeing little plums of smoke coming from every neighbor’s backyard as the charcoal grills were lit and the smell of something good started floating in the air.

I miss seeing more cars in everyone’s driveway as friends or family came to visit bringing with them extra’s to the feast and their own loud noises to add to the celebration.

I miss running around with my sisters and brothers as dad was manning the grill filled with hot dogs that we would run up and grab to tide us over till the real meal would begin. Those hot dogs fresh off the grill, crisp with a little black and split from the heat, how good they were with or without a bun. The big hand formed burgers that mom had quickly whipped up and of course a couple of slabs of ribs all ready to be slathered with some Kraft’s BBQ sauce and of course we could see mom was finishing up the final touches to the family feast.

I miss the picnic table piled high with food, the potato salad we had made two days in advance so the flavors could blend as mom would say. Fresh, warm from the oven-baked beans with crisp slices of bacon on top that we all tried to be the one to grab a spoon with one of those pieces of gold. The big ears of corn that had been roasting in the fire, burnt black on the outside, with that smoky goodness inside. The big tin tub filled with generic sodas and huge watermelons getting cold while waiting for us to dive in at the end of the day.

Most of all I miss hearing the sound of my dad’s voice as he prayed for that meal and gave thanks for all we had.

Yes I miss those days and next year I will recreate a moment like that in time for my own grandchildren, family and friends, to have my dad lead us once more in a family prayer for the food and to offer up thanks, a day in which to enjoy good food and the company of one another.

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