Celebrate

It had been a long, hot, muggy, yet extremely fun day. The three generations of family which consisted of the senior citizens, the Bob-Whites, and the next generation had all enjoyed celebrating the Fourth of July with gossip, swimming, and food.   Now, the three generations were settling in at Sleepyside City Park on blankets and lawn chairs to enjoy the fireworks.

“Daddy, what are fireworks?” asked Joseph.  

Mart replied, “Fireworks are the result of pyrotechnics, which is the science of using materials capable of undergoing self-contained and self-sustained exothermic chemical reactions for the production of heat, light, gas, smoke and/or sound.”

Aunt Trixie interrupted Mart.  “Joseph, never mind your Daddy’s windbag explanation.  Fireworks are beautiful lights that are set off, sort of like when Daddy lights the bar-b-cue by flicking a lighter to light the fire to cook the meat.  But the lights of the fireworks are all different colors of the rainbow and all different designs like starbursts, streaks of light, and colored lightning.  Sometimes they sizzle like water on a hot skillet. Sometimes they dance along to the music that is played by the town band, and other times they boom like thunder to sound just like the noise the cannon on the courthouse square used to make.

Brian turned to Joseph.  “Joey, we celebrate the 4th of July because it is the anniversary of the day that the Declaration of Independence was signed back in 1776.”

Mart broke in saying, “Joe.  The most recognizable words from the Declaration of Independence are, We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Trixie added, “The fireworks are are always there to remind us of how hard we had to fight for our independence and freedom.

“Some of those same battles are still being fought today by men and women like your Uncle Brian, Uncle Dan, and your cousin, Hallie.  They guard our nation, and we honor them by celebrating our freedoms.”

Trixie stopped her narrative and pensively began rocking her daughter in her arms.  It had been many weeks since she had heard from Danny.  The last letter she had received had talked about some of the mysteries they had worked on when they were kids.  He didn’t have anything to say about the secret code they had found when the Bob-Whites were working on the antique show, but he had decorated the pages with the code characters around the border of the letter so that it looked like a funny kind of stationery.   Even though she herself had a high security clearance from working with the FBI, she knew that the censors still had to be careful about what information was left intact in letters home.  She still wasn’t sure whether she should be more worried about the fact that Daniel had circumvented the censors or about the mission about which he could give no information.  

Most letters from her husband were cut up like the old cards from player pianos.  But this last letter...it had very few cuts and was certainly homey and loving, but it was just different.  Maybe that is why she thought of trying to translate that old code.

The stick figures decorating the page borders had told a different story.  Without giving away any secrets, Danny had told her not to send anymore care packages for a while because he was going on a temporary duty assignment.  There was some risk involved, but it was necessary for the safety of the troops.

That was back just before Memorial Day.  Then, Flag Day on June 14 had come and gone and there were still no new letters.

When Hallie Belden had arrived on her doorstep last week, Trixie had nearly fainted in fear that she was about to receive notice that her husband was missing in action or dead.  Trixie could chuckle now about her greeting to her cousin.  “Hallie Belden, I don’t care if you are a chaplain.  You turn right around and go do your duty to some other family.  Don’t you come here and tell me that my husband won’t be coming home to me.”  

Trixie breathed a deep sigh.  It did take a while, but Hallie was finally able to convince me that she was on a normal leave and not here to make an announcement of loss.

Both Hallie and Brian had tried to use their connections as chaplain and doctor with the Red Cross, but they were unable to get access to any information about Daniel.

Trixie looked up to the skies and saw that it was finally dark enough for the fireworks, so she shifted Nellie Bean to make sure the two-year-old was awake enough to watch the show.  

The first display was an outline of the American flag, complete with a blue field of white stars and attached red and white stripes.

Hallie got Joe’s attention and said, “Did you know that the red, white and blue of the flag have special meanings?  Red is for valor and zeal.  White is for hope and cleanliness or life.  Blue -- the color of heaven -- is for reverence and loyalty.   I think the meanings behind the colors make our flag even more special than just as a symbol of our country.”

The family continued to watch the display and make frequent comments.

“Beautiful.”

“Oooo.”

“Aahhh.”

“Look at those reds and blues.  They are gorgeous!”

The family around her became very quiet as the show wound down to get ready for the grand finale. Trixie looked down at her daughter.  “Nellie Bean, don’t you think the fireworks are pretty?”

Daniella, a little sleepily, turned to her mommy and dutifully responded,  “Yes, Mommy.  They are buffalo.”  Then she lifted her arms to someone behind them.  Trixie didn’t give much thought to handing her daughter to a nearby relative until she heard a familiar chuckle that turned into an appreciative laugh.

Just as the town symphony began to play the William Tell Overture in tandem with the grand finale, Daniel, with his daughter in his arms, leaned over Trixie’s chair and, giving them both a big hug, said,  “Yes, Nellie Bean,  they are buffalo,  but not as buffalo as you and your mommy.  Happy Fourth of July!”

*buffalo was the way my own two year old daughter tried to say beautiful.