The 4th Of July

Well the fourth of July came, what did you do?  I’m sure everyone attended a cook-out or two over the weekend as I but on the 4^th before my 3^rd (yes 3^rd) cookout of the weekend I was fortunate enough to have some free time in the morning.  Flipping through the TV I came across HBO which was showing the mini-series John Adams in its entirety.  I’ve wanted to watch it for years but just never have found the time, being the 4^th, I thought, how appropriate, let me catch some of this.  After the first hour, I was engulfed.  I taped the rest of the series and finished it up yesterday.  If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it as the historical accuracy is spot on and to truly appreciate what our founding fathers went through building this nation, it must be viewed.

This post isn’t intended to praise this wonderful series but instead to bring awareness to the historical significance of the holiday.  Many people don’t truly appreciate why we celebrate this wonderful day and instead see it as a day off work and a chance to goof off with friends at a barbeque.  I would label myself a historical buff and have read a lot of books on the founding fathers and watched many television programs on the our Revolutionary War, but it never truly hit me until I watched John Adams.  You see, John Adams isn’t the most celebrated Patriot of our revolution and he isn’t the one that you think of when you think about us fighting for our independence but yet he was an iatrical part of the events.  It made me wonder about all those other Patriots that may not have fought on battle fields but did risk everything including death to make our country free and independent.  John Adams and others that attended secret meetings of a pre-America Continental Congress faced death by hanging if captured and were away from families not days but months and years at a time.  The hardships and risks they took need to be appreciated and praised just as much as George Washington and Benjamin Franklin.  For every Revolutionary War hero, think about all those unsung heroes that may have been omitted from our history text books.

Next year, instead of goofing off at a firework celebration or eating a heart attack waiting to happen amount of hot dogs, take some time to watch something on our founding fathers, maybe read a book, visit a landmark and appreciate those that fought hard and risked EVERYTHING to make our country free and independent.   Maybe sing the Star Spangled Banner and thank those brave young souls that you don’t have a British accent.

PS – Isn’t it amazing that our country just turned 235 years old?  That’s not a lot of time.  Just something to think about…