For nearly as long as I can remember, my family's
Independence Day celebration has been hosted at my grandmother's house in
Savannah. Each year, the entire extended family will congregate at
approximately 5:00 pm to partake in a feast of hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, BBQ
beans, and assorted salads. Of course, I would be remiss if I forgot to mention
the traditional churn of homemade ice cream. Actually, make that two churns.
The thing about traditions is that they often run for so
long that when it doesn't happen, it's kind of a weird feeling. That was the
case this year as COVID-19 actually prompted my grandmother to cancel or
postpone the 4th of July celebration. For the record, I'm still uncertain as to
whether the celebration is cancelled or postponed. The thing about broken
traditions is that it actually provides the opportunity for new traditions to
take root. For Ellie, it's obvious that she is hoping that her new traditions
are in fact, new traditions.
As the traditional celebration at Grandma's house was
cancelled this year, my aunt (and Bethany) decided the time was right for her
to host an impromptu pool party. As a result, my family, my parents, and my
aunt's family spend a fun-filled afternoon splashing about in their pool before
we finally headed home around 4:00.
As you can probably guess, a day of sunshine, splashing, and
lots of tasty food took its toll on Ellie and Ethan and they were plenty tired
as a result. Therefore, Bethany and I fully expected both kids to be sound
asleep all evening. There was one little problem with that thought process
though as we forgot about our neighborhood's traditional fireworks show. There
were already plenty of concussive blasts in the sky by 7:00 pm when the kids go
to bed. It took some doing but finally Bethany and I believed we had won out
and both kids were asleep by around 8:00 pm.
When 9:00 pm rolled around, we knew that it was finally dark
enough outside for us to enjoy the fireworks show. However, just as soon as we
set up our lawn chairs in the driveway and made ourselves comfortable, a tiny
pair of feet came running down the front steps to join us. Conveniently enough,
Bethany and I had already anticipated this happening and had planned to allow
Ellie to join us in watching fireworks for the first time ever.
Yes, you read that correctly. July 4th, 2020 was Ellie's
very first experience watching fireworks. Actually, she saw some several times
as a baby but this was the first time she was actually aware enough to
understand what was happening. Before long, the skies were full of bursts of
color and light every direction we looked. Ellie, still in her pajamas, made it
her personal mission to point out whatever the best display was in the sky at
that particular moment. Once 10:30 rolled around, Bethany and I made the call
that it was time for Ellie to head to bed because we knew she was getting
exhausted. Despite all of her pleas, Ellie was fast asleep within five minutes
of laying down.
Honestly, watching Ellie's face light up in pure joy and
elation while watching those fireworks burst in the sky has to be one of my
highlights of 2020. I also loved how she wanted to share the moment with
Bethany and I equally as she actually took turns sitting on both of our laps.
Of course, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the time she spend
spinning/dancing around our driveway in pure ecstasy as fireworks lit up the
night sky.
Oh, and in case you're wondering, Ethan did not make a pilgrimage
to the driveway to celebrate the 4th. He didn't even bat an eye at the
proceeding once he fell asleep. No big deal though since, as we learned this
year, it's never too late for a child's first experience with fireworks. #DaddyWrite
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