2000-07-04-3:58am CDT
The Fourth of July has always held special meaning for me. Not because it's the birthday of our country's independence, or because we get to see pretty fireworks. Independence Day is a family day. When my brother and I were younger, Mom and Dad would wake us early and we would stumble into the car for the long ride to my aunt's summer cottage on Griswold Lake, the only lake in the world that's supposed to be green. We would fish for Bluegills and ride in the old gray rowboat. At dinnertime, we would sit around the table with mountains of food, bathing suits dripping wet and scratchy from the sand. Those are the times to cherish and remember. Kids watching sparklers with such wonder and intensity, my crazy father and uncles trying to "nail" each other with those little white snap pops, and my mom peeking out of the window trying her hardest not to yell at us to stay away from the fireworks. Everything that means something to me resides in that little house on the lake and the people in it. So next time you think of Independence Day, don't think of it as a day off of work, try to remember the significance it holds in your past, in your present. And if it wasn't as filled with meaning as you want it to be, make it that way. Look for the beauty of life and have a happy Fourth of July! Love,
Supersteph
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