The Harbinger

When I think of the 4th of July I think back a lot to the time I was living in New Hampshire. If you want Americana at it’s best move to New Hampshire. People know your name and why you came. People would call you by your first name and if you were bad they would walk you home to your parents and tell them what you did. Towns would roll up the sidewalks nightly at 7PM and that was that. Every year we would go to the center of town and watch the hour long parade where the elderly war veterans and the girls and boy scouts would sit on floats behind pick up trucks.

Life was a little different when we moved here to Florida. We couldn’t find anything to enjoy on the 4th in 1993 so the following year we started venturing back up to northern New Hampshire to spend 3 weeks visiting family and just enjoying ourselves until school started again. One thing I can always remember though was my aunt Jo, who is my fathers much younger sister, would call me specifically and ask if I could convince my parents to stop in South Carolina on the way up to get all the ‘illegal’ fireworks. See, in New Hampshire if it goes more then 4 feet off the ground it is illegal and you could be arrested for it. I don’t know if it’s the same way now but the trip to Dillon, SC every year was a treat.

I come from a proud military family and they always reminded all of us to take pride in our country and always respect others no matter what. Spending time with family and good friends is what means the most to me on the 4th. I also have much to look forward to after the 4th with my God daughters birthday on the 9th, so every year is enjoyable for me. I also take time to remember the greatness of our country and countries around the world on that day but also how we kicked British butt. This is something my British husband will remind me of every year LOL.

Lisa Risa is I live in quiet, and at times boring, Deltona, FL. I am married to Mike and we have both been on the many incarnations of the board since 1999. I love writing, photography and collecting antiques.
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