June seemed to fly by allowing July to creep up before we realized it. I think of July as the prime of summer and also the patriotic month because of the Fourth of July Independence Day holiday.
The colonists fought for eight long years to gain independence from Britain. We celebrate that victory every Fourth of July with parades, patriotic speeches, picnics, lots of good food, and fireworks.
Write about your family traditions on this holiday. Write about it for future generations in your family. They will be interested in the way your family celebrated. What did the kids do that day? Did any of the family dress in the traditional red, white, and blue? Did they attend parades? Did they have a family picnic? Go to a lake? Attend a huge fireworks show or have their own smaller fireworks display?
Write about what the holiday means to you and your family. Is it merely a fun-filled time, and if it is, that's alright. We're free to celebrate in our own way. If it touches your feelings of patriotism, write about that, as well.
I'll close with one of my poems that was published in an anthology several years ago.
Fourth of July Parade
Celebrate the red, white and blue.
On this day, keep it in all you do.
Blow the bugle and beat the drums,
march proudly wherever you’re from.
Remember the patriots who steadfastly tried,
and all those souls who readily died.
Scores perished so that we may be free
to worship God, not king, on bended knee.
Carry the flag proudly this exceptional day.
“I’m an American” you can happily say.
Move on with a steady step and head held high.
Let your heart swell as you look to the sky.
This is our Independence Day celebration—
the annual birthday of, this, our own great nation.
--Nancy Julien Kopp ©
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