Throwback Tuesday: What Are Your Fondest Memories of the Fourth of July

Happy Fourth of July

I hope all of our readers who celebrate the Fourth of July had a safe and fun holiday!

This week, I wanted to take a look back at an article I wrote for the Fourth of July back in 2012.

Here is nearly all of that article verbatim:

I think I’ve mentioned before that I grew up in a small, rural town in Northeastern Pennsylvania a time or two in the past. In fact, I know I wrote about the celebratory carnival that would come to visit my hometown every year in July to honor the landing of the Apollo shuttle on the moon. Why would my hometown celebrate that event you may ask; well, my hometown is called Apollo, not because of those illustrious shuttles but because of the Greek God, but my little hometown took advantage of the name and turned those celebrations into the only real money-making event to hit my area every year.

Over time, however, the celebrations began to diminish as leaders in the community passed on, families moved away, money became even scarcer in the town and interest in those celebrations simply became a thing of the past. But, my memories of those carnivals have never faded away. I still remember walking ‘up the hill’ to the baseball field adjacent to my old elementary school to take in the lights, games and festivities at the carnival.

And while this annual event was always held a few weeks after the Fourth of July, the excitement of fireworks and games held on the big holiday always lent to anticipation of the carnival coming to town. I can remember sitting on the cement wall just outside my elementary school with my parents and older brothers, watching the fireworks being set off at the nearby football field, “oohing and aahing” at the spectacular lightshow; being scared of the loud booms and being mesmerized by all the colors. It was also in the knowing that it was the Fourth of July and I had spent the entire day with my family in our big backyard, having a barbeque, watching my brothers race around in the yard with our dog or chasing after my little nephew while my mom prepared her homemade potato salad and dad cooked hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill. Those were the days when life seemed so simple and it seemed as if our lives would never change.

Of course, things never stay the same for very long and sadly most of my immediate family is no longer with us; but I still look back on those days with great fondness; and reminisce about them from time to time. Regardless of how you celebrated the big holiday with your family and friends in the past or how you celebrate the big day now, I hope you (had) a terrific Fourth of July. (I hope you) didn’t eat too much (well maybe just a little), enjoy(ed) the day (no matter who you spend it with) and remember(ed) the true meaning behind the Fourth of July. And, maybe start(ed) a new tradition of your own that can be passed down to the next generation so that they will have just as fond memories of the holiday as you do now.

Happy Fourth of July to all of our readers here at NiceGirlsTV!!