He was a Yankee Doodle Dandy

Happy 4th of July. Wave those flags! Toss out your tea! Protest! America! America! Land of the free! Last year we were in Scotland on the fourth of July. Talk about awkward. No celebrations there, of course, not even a "Happy 4th" to us Americans. Didn't matter. I shook up Edinburgh by setting off the hotel fire alarm the night before as a little reminder.

The fourth of July has always been a big holiday in my family because it was my father's birthday. As kids we thought being born on the holiday was the greatest thing ever. I mean, it wasn't Christmas where you got screwed on gifts, it wasn't Halloween where you were overshadowed by costumed weirdos, and it wasn't Valentine's Day where you were expected to have a love fest. It was the 4th of July; a day where father's grilled out, families spent the day outdoors, and fireworks lit the night sky. It was actually a magical holiday and made more so by my father's birth.

For our fourth we had cake and presents. The cake always had sparklers instead of candles because we thought that fabulous. The presents were always outrageous and handpicked by myself and my brother because my dad loved everything. He was the greatest person to buy for and we bought the man every Ronco product, every tool ever made at Sears, and every freaky gadget we found at his favorite Hardware store, Kuesters, and beyond.

Some fourths we had our old neighbors from Pennsylvania in town and they brought fireworks on the drive to Indiana. One year my father and our old neighbor built a type of cannon with a tennis can and fireworks that we used on the 4th for several years. There were sparklers, and worms, and all sorts of things that went boom and all of the neighborhood was involved. There was grilled food and more cake, and all of the kids ran around barefoot, doing whatever we wanted.

Some years the neighborhood kids put on shows where we acted and sang using record players. We would practice for days, threatening the boys to get them to participate, and on the fourth we would put on the show for all of the parents before we ate dinner. Always in the show we brought up my dad and sang, "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy". He was always a good sport.

I've thought a lot about my dad lately, especially today. He would have so much liked to have shared today with his grandchildren performing for him, lighting fireworks, and eating watermelon and cake. I went around the house today singing the Yankee song, and enjoyed the flags my husband put outside around our walk. My father, a war veteran, always had an American flag flying from our front porch. The fact that he shared this day of American's independence just made it all the more sweeter for him. For all of us.

Happy 4th of July all.