THANKFUL THURSDAY

Today is my birthday and I am thankful that my parents allowed me to be born on their 4th wedding anniversary, lo, those many years ago today. That always made for a nice 4th of July celebration for our whole family when I was growing up. We lived in a small town, so the 3rd of July was usually a combined celebration of my parents' anniversary and a celebration of my birthday. In the evening, as soon as it began to get dark, Daddy took us out to a fireworks stand and bought Roman candles, firecrackers, snakes and sparklers. We then drove out to a dirt road and had our own fireworks display. My brother particularly liked the firecrackers and my sister and I loved the snakes and sparklers. Daddy usually helped us shoot off the Roman candles.

Our family gatherings around the 4th of July have continued and some of our family always tries to get together and celebrate birthdays since we now have a granddaughter born on the 4th of July and a daughter-in-law born on the 6th of July. It seems like we have now moved into celebrating the first week of July as Birthday Week for our family members who can be together. This year we will journey to the Texas Panhandle and celebrate with family gathered there. Fun!