Wonderful 4th of July as a child

Besides Christmas and my birthday, 4th of July was my 3rd favorite holiday.   I was raised in a small town who celebrated the day in all kinds of wonderful ways.

First we had the parade.  I marched in it when I was a Brownie. 

Another time I was in the parade with my bicycle advertising my father's gas station. 

Advertising my father's gas station is open now

Jack's gas station is open now

After the parade we went up to the park for games and races. 



Later in the afternoon we got to go to the lake where we participated in swimming races. I won once for the back crawl. 

The single men and married ones played a baseball game.  I don't know if they still do.

One of my favorite memories was the street dance.  I was a child then. It was in the 1940s and I loved hanging out near the band.  They played Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman music and I loved watching the piano and bass players.   



My father was a fireman in town and one year I got to ride in the firetruck with him and ring the bell. Boy did I think I was hot stuff.  Ha ha.   Back then they let children ride around town in a fire truck.  It was fun.

We moved a couple years after Dad died and the Fourth of July was never the same.   I always wished I was back in my hometown on that special day.

In 1989 we went back for mother's funeral and we were there on July 4th staying at an aunt's house.  Waiting and watching the parade was so nostalgic.  It felt like nothing had changed except the people.   I was quite emotional for many reasons.

Today I watched a live Facebook video of the parade and many emotions came up again. I remembered the good times, my friends, parents, and what fun we had on this special holiday in my old home town.   It was both fun and bittersweet.   As someone told me, the children today are making the same memories because the town itself hasn't changed all that much.