4th of July
Memories....

When I was a child, in the 1950s and early 1960s, our 4th of July celebration was an all day event.....
Mom would start preparation a day or two ahead.....
Potato Salad, pickled eggs & beets, macaroni salad, assorted homemade pies, creampuffs, and of course a fruit salad.....
We would be so excited to rise early from our beds and get ready for our "family picnic".....
Into the car we would all go with all of the aforementioned food plus a barbeque grill with real charcoal and lots of hamburger, hotdogs, condiments and fresh corn.....
We would drive a few miles to a secluded grove which was located close to a water dam called "Mud Run".....
This natural grove was large enough to set up picnic tables and chairs as well as a badminton net. Close by was a stream, one of many, that fed the dam. This stream had clear clean water and lots of smooth surface rocks. It was our private wading area and I remember plenty of slip and slides on those rocks but I do not remember ever getting hurt.....
The rest of our extended family would arrive as well. There was my mother's oldest sister, Aunt Mabel, and her entire family which consisted of sons and daughter in laws and grandchildren.....
During some years there were 30 or more people present at a time.....
The grandchildren were only a few years younger than I and gave me lots of friends to play with along with my younger brother.....
My cousin Audrey was the youngest of Mabel's children and was just a few years older than my older brother.....
What is so vivid in my memory is the laughter.....
The ladies would tell stories that in my young mind I could not really understand, but it always ended with hearty laughter from the entire group, so of course all the children laughed happily as well. ....
Wonderful food….....
Seeing my father and the other male relatives lighting the grills and cooking the burgers and hotdogs under the careful instruction of the "woman".....
Opening up the many ice chests laden with numerous salads fruits and goodies.....
Hearing my mother say," Get the Potato salad and Macaroni Salad out of the sun", at least 10 times.....
Playing badminton with everyone joining in and laughing until we were in tears!
At the end of the busy day, packing up the car and driving home to watch the local fireworks show from our sidewalk,where we lined up all the folding chairs.
( but the "lucky kid" got to sit atop of the U.S. Mail Collection box which was at our corner)
Wonderful fireworks! The dog running around us all! The adults relaxing and supervising the children (us) with our sparklers and smoke snakes! Lightening bugs everywhere! A clear, star filled sky! And all was safe and well in our world.
What cherished, happy memories!....
How simple yet life transforming such treasured events can be.....
Our celebrations went on at least twice a year in that simple grove for many years.....
Of course, as we became teens and started to pull away from such things, the custom slowly faded into just memories.....

Very lucky children were we….....

Memories like these are priceless.....