Happy July 4th?
It is a lovely morning on the pond. Text messages are pinging my phone wishing me a happy 4th of July. I’m sure my husband anticipates that I will announce that he is not allowed to celebrate the 4th of July at some point during the day.
You see, my husband’s family were Loyalists during the Revolution. They, along with thousands of black and white Loyalists, fled to British Canada in the 1700s.
I like to embellish the story by saying that his family was tarred, feathered, and kicked out of the colonies while my family was risking their lives fighting the Red Coats.
Rightly so, my husband finds my telling of this story annoying. I must admit that I agree with him, but…..somehow, I can’t seem to help myself.
Eventually, my husband’s family repaired the political rift that caused them to leave the colonies and returned to the newly formed United States.
Tonight we will hear the local Temple Town Band play. The band formed in 1799, and they have been performing together off and on now for over 200 years.
This year, in the wake of the January 6th Congressional Hearings, the telling of our family’s political differences during the American Revolution doesn’t seem as humorous or benign as it has in the past.
On this Fourth of July, I am concerned and troubled by the division in our country. I hope that, like the Temple Town Band, our country will find a way to be playing together two in hundred years.
With Love & Energy by the Pond,
Laurel
