4th of July

Yesterday and today our family celebrated the 4th of July. We went to two very different fireworks shows. The first was held yesterday at a local church. The people there were very nice. They had an orchestra playing big band music and accompanied the fireworks, which were spectacular. While we watched the fireworks, the girls enjoyed Italian Ices as we sat in our chairs amongst the (nearly) all-white crowd.

Today, we held true to our tradition of watching fireworks from the steps of the main branch of the public library.

While we waited for the fireworks to begin, the girls danced and twirled around, searched for fairies in the landscaping, and played ball with other children. We each had an ice cream cone made from ice cream I had stashed in the cooler.

Then the show began. We all oooooo'd and ahhhhh'd at the beautiful array of colorful fireworks, each commenting on a favorite hue or design.

Tonight, as I watched the fireworks, I heard an orchestra of voices around us. I noticed Spanish, Chinese, Russian, and of course, English. I reflected on a shocking anti-immigration banner I read in our town's 4th of July earlier in the day. We are all immigrants, or descendants of immigrants. The only true natives were the American Indians.

At the moment of that thought, a wave of relief came over me. For months I have struggled with fear. Fear that I have somehow made a bad decision about staying in our school district which has a very diversified student body, and not much money for the extra programs the (nearly) all-white rich schools have.

While watching the fireworks, and listening to those around us, I reached a level of comfort and satisfaction about our decision to expose our children to people of all races and walks of life. This is an important part of their education. We are pretty smart cookies, my hubbie and I, and our girls will get plenty of extra education enrichment from us, alongside their regular school curriculum.

Tonight, our girls laughed, and played with children of all color. There was no hesitation, no fear, no prejudice in their faces. They were completely comfortable with the important commonality between them -- they were children watching the coolest 4th of July fireworks show in town.