The 4th of July is a great holiday because it is not necessary to buy presents to show love. It is not difficult to decorate. You really only need a flag. And failing that, you can wear red, white, and blue clothes. That will show your support and keep you from running around naked at the same time!

I am a proud American. A patriot. And that is out of favor with some people these days. Sadly patriotism has been linked to all sorts of bad things, like White Supremacism and somehow, racism? How did this happen? It is horrifying to me to see people turning their backs on this country even at the same time that thousands of refugees and seekers of a better life are trying with all their might to enter it.

This great country has given everyone the freedom to criticize it. And there are no limits to their criticism. But sometimes I wish we could send all these ungrateful people to a third world country just for the weekend. That is probably all the time that they would need to understand. The biggest freedom of all is that ANYONE can rise to any height in this country, and no one will even think it is strange. That is what we do here. We rise, we fall, we have freedom of choice. In spite of all the bad press, we really do NOT have a class system in the United States. You are free to move up and down the scale.

Now it is full summer, and though the weather has been changeable and full of storms. It is sweltering now. Sometimes so hot that you wish you didn’t have to wear clothes at all. My mind is on heat because I am writing this in the middle of the day in my Mother’s house. She is so old that she likes it to be very warm. This house has never been air-conditioned, and it is hot and sticky everywhere inside it. But she is happy.

The rest of us run around fanning ourselves and hiding out in an air-conditioned bedroom as long as we can. Turning fans on and then off when Mother is near. Even the “draft” from a fan is too much for her.

She does not really understand that the 4th of July is nearly here. She has experienced her share of them and more! The changes she has seen in her 101 years of life include the Great Depression, the Second World War, the cold war and the civil rights movement and the assassination of a President and several other leaders. The rise of terrorism and the destruction of the Twin Towers along with the dot.com boom and bust have all happened in her old age. And yet she perseveres and continues to dress in her colorful finery with polished fingernails, and toenails. She wears lipstick to breakfast. She no longer really understands the words in the Daily papers. But she can read those words without using glasses. This is something I, her daughter have not been able to do in years.

Happy 4th of July!

Copyright?. 2019 Bonnie B. Matheson