I was standing in the kitchen of a friend's house in Naples, Florida, July 4, 2012. The trio (Todd, 8; Tess, 7; Tanner, 5) and I were treating ourselves to ice cream: Todd and Tanner - chocolate; Tess - chocolate and vanilla. We were trying to determine where we might see fireworks for THE FOURTH OF JULY. Maybe the beach?
I was, as we discussed our previous Independence Days, transported back in time. I was 8,7,5 ish. We lived in the city at the time. Houses were on narrow lots. My grandfather, in the afternoon of the big American day would say, "Hey! It's-a July 4! A big-a American holiday! Tonight we-a sit on-a the porch! They make-a the fireworks atta Hinchman Stadium to watch! We celebrate America!" I might add that my grandparents saw the new land after entering through Ellis Island from Italy. My grandfather said that as his ship came into the port, he, along with fellow passengers, cried at the sight of The Statue of Liberty. (Personally, I think that it was a premonition of his future spawning all of the assorted screwballs that would become his family in the New World).
In Paterson, New Jersey, at Hinchman Stadium, truly, fireworks would be set off. From the porch in the back of our house, we could see them quite clearly. Early in the day, Grandpa and Nana would "prepare". A light dinner, homemade wine (cools you off in the summer...also warms you in the winter, go figure). A walk to the store on the corner for Vanilla Fudge (#6) Ice Cream. As it would get dark, my grandparents would start to dish out the treat. But, then, the topping would be, wait for it.....fruit cocktail. Yep, on top of this glorious Vanilla Fudge Ice Cream. Libby's canned fruit cocktail!
Darkness would begin to cloak Paterson. With our ice cream (topped with - oh, never mind), we would gather on the rather large, wooden, back porch. All seated so that "Dolly Dear" (hey, that's me) could see...The sky would light up! The heavens ablaze with color, light, noise! The night air could carry the "OOOOOOO's and AHHHHHHHHHH's" of the neighboring porches, "stoops" , sidewalks, parks, streets! The German family next door, the Jewish grocer on the corner, the Italians on the "hill", the Polish lady down the street...were/are all AMERICANS! At the finale, my grandfather would exclaim that the fireworks were more beautiful this year than last! He was proud that he had celebrated in America on his own porch (no morgaige-a), with his family. He was proud that he was a citizen, that he learned to read, write American. He loved Westerns - American Cowboys. This man fell in love with Chevy, hotdogs, apple pie, mom and the Fourth of July to tears!
I snapped back to Naples, 2012. The trio listened to my tale. I did get a chorus of YUK over the ice cream topped with fruit cocktail. Todd said that it might be an "Italian thing" and since he is a little Italian, he'll try it s-o-m-e-t-i-m-e.
Suddenly, we could see the sky light up! We ran out onto the lanai. We stood on the house side of the pool and looked up...Fireworks from the beach illuminated the heavens! Arms around each other, a hug, a squeeze. We were frozen in time! I could only pray that the moments would never end. The colorful, bright patterns of light decorated the sky like THE FOURTH OF JULY!
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