My Favorite Day Of The Year

 I look forward to this time of year, not because the weather gets hot, but because of the 4th of July.  It takes me back to the time as a child when the entire family got together and we had one day each year where all of our worries and fears were put on hold.  It was a day when you hear children screaming but not because they were scared.  The laughter filled the air and the smell of hot dogs and hamburgers caught you as soon as you stepped out of the car.  I remember running around the pool chasing my brother and being yelled at for doing it.  It even seemed as though you really didn’t get in trouble on the 4th.  I don’t know if it was because I wanted to keep having fun and I was behaving or if my parents knew that I was just being a kid and it took them back to a place in their memories of days gone by.  All I know is the 4th of July in our backyard was the most wonderful place in the world.  You had the pool, games, food, and the entire family all in one place, and looking back on those days I smile and hope that it can continue as the next generation of our family makes the day their own. – Thomas