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What are your memories of July 4, Independence Day?
Until recently, as a child and an adult, I had many fond memories of this summer holiday.
-Skipping and dancing and twirling sparklers under a starry night
-Playing with cousins
-Eating my aunt’s special cake—chocolate prune, which was delicious
-Making a fun holiday for my children and neighbors when the town we lived in had no fireworks
-Eating red cherries, so prolific from the Western Slope of Colorado
-Enjoying my kids, and mostly-golden-retriever, Daisy Mae, marching in a July 4th parade
-Donning white capris and a red, white, and blue striped t-shirt
-Writing about a special neighbor who decorated all of our yards in Murder and a Victory Garden
-Giggling grandchildren
-Decorating the house with flags and Uncle Sam
-Watching fireworks from a grassy knoll.
-July 4th was fun and magical!
Now, July 4th for me is sad, depressing, melancholy, and disgusting.
-A neighbor asks, “Are those fireworks going off, or gunshots?
-Few of my neighbors fly the flag. I don’t. It has such a different meaning now.
-Lots of boos and hisses—instead of clapping and cheering— from the crowd as certain 4th of July parade entries go by.
-See the police cars. What happened? Am I safe?
-See the fire trucks. Did some crazy start one?
-What is that stinky smell in the air?
-Why do people play music so loud?
-Where’s the dog?
-How many people committed suicide?
-Lots of illegal fireworks booming days before and after July 4.
I stop these dire thoughts and take a moment to remember family members who have served this country.
-Robert Wheeler, 1715, Albany County Militia
-William Wilhelm Wheeler, Revolutionary War
-William Wheeler, Captured Nov. 30, 1864 Battle of Franklin, Tennessee, Civil War
-Robert Wheeler, Eighth Airforce, bombardier, 32 missions, World War II
-Justin Wheeler Verhey, commander tank patrol, Bosnian War
All of these family members are heroes to me. None of them are losers.
After the 1970s, I never wanted to hear again Stephen Stills song, “For What It’s Worth (Stop, Hey, What’s That Sound.)” I never dreamed it would have meaning to me in 2022. I have a hard time getting it out of my head.
There’s something happenin’ here
What it is ain’t exactly clear
There’s a man with a gun over there
A tellin’ me I got to beware
I think it’s time we stop, children
What’s that sound
Everybody look what’s goin’ down
There’s battle lines being drawn
Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong
Young people speakin’ their minds
Gettin’ so much resistance from behind
It’s time we stop,
Hey, what’s that sound
Everybody look what’s goin’ down
What a field day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singin’ songs and a’carryin’ signs
Mostly say “hooray for our side!”
It’s time we stop,
Hey, what’s that sound
Everybody look what’s goin’ down
Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when your always afraid
Step out of line the man come and take you away
We better stop
Hey, what’s that sound
Everybody look what’s goin’ down
Copyright – Elizabeth J. Wheeler, July 1, 2022
