Born on the

Fourth of

July

July 4th is a time when most of us think about backyard cookouts and fireworks.  A few of us may think beyond the cele-bration and on to freedom, liberty, and constitu-tional rights that we have in the United States of America.

Since 1776 the Declara-tion of Indepen-dence and 1789 adoption of the Constitution came into being, and both have held up the test of time.  Most documents today become edited and re-edited.  These may be, with the exception of the Bible, some of man’s greatest works.

Our pledge of allegiance to the flag and the display of the American flag are just a few examples of the display of gratitude that we can show for our military personnel for protecting our country and our freedom.  We must never forget who the credit is due for freedom that we have and for that, we should be eternally grateful.

I often think of the sacrifices our military men and women make to serve our country.  They leave families behind, miss birthdays, ballgames, funerals, and sometimes even births of children or other close family members.  The ultimate sacrifice is their lives.  The sacrifice they make could never be repaid, so I think the least I can do as an American citizen is stand up and recite the Pledge of Allegiance and fly “Old Glory”.

With the wonderful firework show our county now provides for us, we can even celebrate with a wonderful light show.  And as a child, I can remember my dad would always take me and let me pick out fireworks.  We couldn’t wait until dark to set them off, so sometimes we had to get an early start with loud firecrackers, and you couldn’t light just one you had to light the whole pack to get the full effect. 

I guess one of the reasons why the 4th of July is so special to me is that I was one of the lucky people to be born on the 4th of July.  A firework, as I have often been called, and lots to look forward to.  We always had a big cookout at our house and all the family came there. 

All of us kids had our own stash of fireworks, and we would find all the lighters we could salvage and before dark we got started lighting smoke bombs, bottle rockets, and those loud firecrackers.  We played volleyball until way after dark and played the all time favorite of hide-and-seek. 

My 4th of July holiday has changed some as I have gotten older and had a family of my own.  We always go camping on the 4th of July, and spend time with family and friends.  We don’t buy many fireworks, we usually take in the wonderful show that others provide for us.  My birthday is still as special to me today as when I was a child, because my parents continue to make a big deal of our birthdays and have all the family together.

So I hope this year between your hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, and firework shows, you talked to your children about freedom and how it is not free!  Tell them about the Revolutionary War, and the Declaration of Independence, so that they understand that someone had to give their life so that we could enjoy all these things.  I encourage you to remember what the holiday is all about–FREEDOM! 

Hope you had a safe and happy 4th of July!

Tammy Waid McClellan

Got a story to tell – try our new feature

Let the

readers

write

The Clinton County News is seeking short, personal stories from you, our readers, for our new feature area, “Let the readers write”.

Tell us about an experience that resulted in a life-long memory, something that happened during your childhood or even yesterday. No hidden agendas. No politics. No religion. Don’t try to sneak in coverage for your 3rd grader’s basketball team. No poems.

In your own words, hopefully between 300 and 600 words, submit your article, along with a photo of yourself, via email to: gpcompany@kih.net, or bring a typewritten copy in to our office at 116 N. Washington Street in Albany. If you don’t have a recent photo of yourself, we’ll make it for you.

You can also mail your submission to P.O. Box 360, Albany, KY 42602. Include an address and phone number that we can use for verification purposes only.