The Fourth, 2008

THE FOURTH-2008

by Lovella Kelley

Today is the Fourth-of July, of course. We Americans only have to say the Fourth and it has a meaning all its own. It means the same to all of us and yet each one has his own inner voice that says what being an American really means. I am reading a book about the early homesteading in mid-Kansas. America, to them, meant riding in a dusty covered wagon to a land full of danger and fear and promise. What drove them to go there? I think it is the same that drives us to want a grand and great world for all, not just America. We want to have the best we can achieve and sharing it with those close to us. It means not just living next door to someone but being a real neighbor to your neighbor-one who cares and looks after and shares not only your presence but your love and concern.

I am also remembering a Fourth in l962. We spent it in Germany in the military. We lived in a very small unheated, much less cooled, apartment in the upstairs of a German family home. The bathroom was shared with the family and the wood burning hot water heater was only heated once a week and if you weren’t there, you missed your weekly bath. Well, we didn’t have many baths during our stay because we always had better things to do on Saturday nights. So, in our tiny kitchen, there was a two liter electric water heater. It served to heat sponge bath water, dish water, and floor scrubbing water. Yet, that holiday is so vivid because we were in another country which so recently had been devastated by a horrible man who sought to create the perfect race of people. It was very cold for some reason and we sat wrapped in our winter coats with other American military friends. And yes, we were proud to be American. We were there to protect a world that was being threatened by yet another devastation called Communism. I remember being on the airplane and sitting next to someone with a heavy accent who wanted to know all about who I was and where I was going. One never knew just who that person next to you could be. I remember also vividly that all the time I was there, it never occurred to me to not be proud of who I was.

Now, many years later, I sat watching a parade this morning. Shortly into the event, a very long and loud train rolled through town. For me, it was the highlight of the parade. As it went by, I saw those homesteaders in mid-Kansas who risked everything to begin a country where huge trains could roll from coast to coast and create history that we don’t always seem to appreciate. I wondered if anyone else was so impressed with the train, almost sentimental.

I grew up with a little train we called the Jitney. It brought cream, grain, mail, and people to our little town. I wonder what my grandchildren will remember when they get old. What kind of memories are we making for them? Are they seeing a proud and hardworking, loving people in a country that means that I can watch a parade! I can go to church. I can be proud to be part of a country that grew great people. Somehow, with the grace of God to guide us, we will still be proud and impressed next year and for many years to come.

-submitted by Lovella Kelley, posted by Janet Kelley