For the past couple of months, we asked readers to submit their Fourth of July traditions and memories. Some of the submissions are featured on pages 26 and 27. Reading about other people’s celebrations and cherished memories with their families was fun.

For my family, July 4th was always a day to get together and eat a lot of food. When I was little, my grandpa would buy a ton of fireworks, and my dad and uncle would help him light them. Watching them try to run away as fast as they could back to safety was so funny. My two cousins and I loved to play with sparklers. Almost 30 years later, my family still makes fun of me for accidentally poking my grandpa in the belly with a sparkler and lighting his shirt on fire.

When we got a little older, our family would watch the fireworks show at our local high school. We parked our cars in the same viewing spot every year, so it was easy for my friends, my cousins’ friends, and anyone else we knew in the community to come by and say hello. By the time the show started, we usually gained almost double the amount of people in our spot. It might have been because we had a good place to see the show, but it could have also been the brownies my mom made every year.

Now that I live in Indianapolis, it’s harder to go down and watch the fireworks with my family. It doesn’t get dark until almost 10 p.m., which makes for a long night driving home. Luckily for my husband, Brooks, and I, we don’t have to leave our house to see a great show. A family who lives one neighborhood over sells fireworks in the summer. They put on an impressive show from their front yard. If we look out the window from my upstairs office, we can see the display without having to go outside. That’s my kind of fireworks show.

Britt Davis, Editor
bdavis@indianaec.org