Celebrating our independence

Rep. Allen Andrews

Fourth of July holds a very special place in the hearts of Americans as a day we all paused to remember the true significance of our independence.

We are a nation and a people with innumerable blessings and freedoms for which we must remain ever thankful.

That is especially true when you consider the debt we owe to the many heroes who have given their lives to protect and preserve our way of life. It’s important to realize the fireworks that evoke awe and wonder from spectators are really meant to serve as a reminder of the battles fought to create and sustain our nation.

It was one of our founding fathers, John Adams, who predicted we would celebrate our hard-fought independence this way.

It was Adams who said about Independence Day that “it ought to be celebrated by pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other.”

Adams knew the nation he helped to form, and the independence we had gained, had come at a great cost, and that we, as a nation, should always be grateful for this incredible gift of freedom.

So each year on the Fourth of July we celebrate — not because we have a few days off from work, but because we have a lifetime of liberty to enjoy.

It was Francis Scott Key who so eloquently wrote in the lyrics of our national anthem about “the rockets’ red glare” and “the bombs bursting in air”, and during our Independence Day celebrations we shoot our own “rockets” and “bombs” in celebration of the freedoms that have been fought for and won for past, present and future generations of Americans.

As Key also asked in our national anthem, “Oh say, does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave, o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?”

We are a blessed and fortunate people to call this, the greatest nation in history, our home.