(C) 2023, Isaiah Jacobs
The Fourth of July, Independence Day, brings back some great memories from my childhood and young adult years. They are a reminder to love family and friends, making time to enjoy their company.
When I was a young boy, as young as I can remember, my parents would take my brother and me to the hills of West Virginia to visit my grandparents. We would arrive a few days before the Fourth of July and stay a few days after. I like that because it gave me time to watch the trains rolling through my grandmother’s hometown. That was the highlight of the trip for me.
However, on the Fourth of July, the family on my mother’s side would gather at my Aunt Mary’s house on the side of a mountain. Everything is on the side of the mountain in West Virginia. There were quite a few cousins, uncles, aunts, grandparents, and great-grandparents, and the list could go on and on, gathering together for a day of fun.
There was always plenty of food, drinks, and desserts to last the day and a few afterward. And, there were games and hiking too. A few years, we went to the local city for the evening fireworks.
Aunt Mary and Uncle John were my mother’s favorite aunt and uncle. She always enjoyed the time she had with them. She spoke of them quite often during the year before our annual gathering.
Then, there’s my mother’s sister Connie. They loved each other dearly. They would chat about everything in the entire universe as if they hadn’t spoken with each other for years when, in actuality, they had spoken by phone possibly as much as once a month. They were the type that would giggle and laugh about everything leaving my Dad and I to wonder what was so funny. Usually, there wasn’t anything funny to the rest of us.
As a young kid, I didn’t quite enjoy these reunions as much as my family did. I always wondered what trains I missed watching rolling through town. However, I remember how much the family enjoyed the time together.
In my older adult years, I have come to miss these reunions. The family has either passed away or gone their separate ways. It seems it was the older generation that kept the reunions going, and as they went on to heaven, the gatherings ended. I have a few relatives which I am still in contact with which I have the pleasure of connecting up with once in a while.
However you celebrate today, may it be a blessed one full of fun and fellowship. Remember the reason we celebrate the day too. For if it weren’t for the many people before us going ahead with their dreams of a new country, we wouldn’t have the freedoms we have.
