Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory

I have had the opportunity to live in other countries which means that there have been many occasions when holidays that we generally celebrate here, I was someplace that they didn't. No regrets about this, it's just interesting to me to see how we view and celebrate independence from an evil empire (Sorry England, nothing personal).
It's been well over two hundred years now (point being there's nobody left from that time) and we manage , I think , to keep a pretty good idea of what it was all about. Of course recent events (9/11/01) brought the country together in a more surface way. More insistent flagwaving and discussion of national pride, but the 4th has always been a source of national pride that is joyous (again probably because there is nobody left from that time who can talk about the bad parts).
The picnics and backyard barbecues for me as a kid on the 4th were more with family friends. This as opposed to my chosen friends, these people were actually the friends of your parents that happened to also have kids your age. Again, no regrets, there never any monster children involved that one couldn't get along with. Unless, the monster kid was me! Ouch, I never thought about that before. But I digress.
Burgers, wienies (Hummel's!, and no other brand would do), potato salad, homemade ice cream, homemade chocolate sauce, was the usual fare. God, it was fun. Shortly before the time I hit my teen years, the family acquired a pool (for me a happy/sad thing , because I HATED taking care of the pool), which added a whole new dimension to the festivities.
And I'm rereading this and I'm wondering where it's going. What I came up with was...growing up I enjoyed the immense freedoms handed down by those who fought almost insurmountable odds because they were visionary. They did this over two hundred years ago and now even two hundred years later that freedom continues. I love this country and have been places that they didn't love this country. America ahs stood and continues to stand as a place everyone wants to go because of the single word 'Freedom'. No matter what, this is a great country that sustains and most others are envious of this country and what we have in terms of personal freedom. That thought reminds a couple of lines in the Hunt For Red October when Sean Connery and Sam Neil as two Russian Submarine Officers are discussing how they're lives are going to be different after they have defected to America. Neil marvels when Connery explains how one can 'move from state to state without papers'. A great insight into how great and free our country is.
Must go throw on a couple of wienies and have some potato salad. Happy 4th y'all.