Happy Birthday America

I can remember when I was a kid in my hometown. The Fourth of July meant one thing.. candy. There would always be a parade with lots of candy. The holiday meant hanging out on the town square and enjoying the day with the others in my hometown. There would usually be some form of entertainment. I can remember one year when someone was singing the national anthem, I was there with Jamie, I think... if it wasn't you Jamie, I'm sorry. We were both singing along. I knew at that time I wasn't (and was never going to be) a good singer, although I can sometimes carry a tune, the national anthem is probably one of the hardest songs to sing. But Jamie and I sang our little hearts out along with the music. Until this older woman came up and tapped us on the shoulder and told us that it was so disrespectful to our country to sing like that. I was so embarrassed. My grandma knew who she was and told us not to worry about it but I can still remember the red nail polish on that first finger in my face. I wasn't trying to insult our country. At that time in my life, the US was perfect in my mind. Of course, I still had things to learn about government and international politics. Weren't there kids around doing much worse things than singing off key?
Today I am sure that I will hear Ray Charles' "America" and Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" and yes, the National Anthem about 100 times. Will I sing along? Sure.. but in my car with the windows up or quietly under my breath. Would I tell some kids to stop singing along because they are being disrespectful? No way.

If anyone is interested in more pictures from last weekend, you can see the wedding pictures here and more Breezy Point pictures here.

As for our plans today... I seem to be a little under the weather. However, I think we will make an afternoon game of kickball with our softball team followed by a BBQ and of course the fireworks. Happy 4th of July everyone!