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The United States just celebrated her 231st birthday, the anniversary of the date that the United States declared her independence from King George of Great Britain. To commemorate the event, my family and I attended two Fourth of July fireworks displays. The first one was put on my our hometown fathers this weekend. We have been receiving record rain fall so the day’s events (concert, amusement park, etc) was cut short. We weren’t entirely sure that the city would do the fireworks display, so we arrived at the park sometime around dark (about 21:15hs). There were already people gathering, so we figured it was a good shot chance that the first firecracker would be set off soon. Let me give you a quick recap of how it went:

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21:15
Child 1 - Dad. When is it going to start?
Child 2 - Daddy, hold me.
Child 3 - I can’t see anything.
Me - Be patient
My Wife - Get a blanket and go set down on that hill over there so you can see it when they start.

21:20
Child 1 - This is dumb! Nothing is happening!
Child 2 - Daddy, I’m bored.
Child 3 - I’m hungry.

21:30
Me - It should start soon.
Child 1 - This is dumb! I’m bored!
Child 2 - Daddy, hold me.

21:35
Me - Look! I just saw one!
All Children - Where?!?!
Me - Over there. By that tree.

21:40
Child 1 - This is dumb! I didn’t see it and nothing is happening. I want to go home. This is boring!!
Child 3 - I’m hungry
Mom - Here, have a goldfish cracker.

21:45
Child 1 - Daa-DEE! I hate this. I’m bored and the dumb bugs are biting me. Nothing IS happening. I don’t like it here. I want to go home.
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Get the picture? It was a real pleasant experience - NOT! That is, until about 22:10, when they finally did start the fireworks display. Then, child one said “Now, this is more like it. This is what I came to see.” Child 2 came to stand by me and child 1, and child 3 stood inside of the car next to her mother watching the fireworks. Ah finally! All of the children were finally united in purpose with their parents and were enjoying the fireworks display. Through out the experience, I learned that patience pays off in the long run. We were able to enjoy a 30 minute long colorful pyrotechnic tribute to our homeland, as the “rockets red glare and bombs bursting in air” truely “gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.”

Aside from learning that patience pays off in the end, there was another lesson that I learned at the city’s Fourth of July fireworks exhibition.

We were parked in front of a group of Chicanos. They could have been from Puerto Rico, Spain or Central or South America, but chances are that they were Mexicans. The whole time we were waiting, they were chatting and laughing in Spanish and I was beginning to get very offended. After all, we were there to celebrate the birthday of our great (English speaking) nation, yet they were insistent upon speaking their own (foreign) language. “How rude!” I thought to myself, remembering the rule that I myself followed while I lived in Brazil which stated that it was rude to speak your native language while in the presence of those who didn’t understand it, even when amongst one’s own group. Not only could most people around me (presumably) not understand Spanish, but with all of the recent immigration debates in Congress and local controversy over the adoption of English as the official language of the neighboring city Farmer’s Branch, it especially insensitive to do this at an event meant to celebrate the United States. I managed to repress my disdain throughout all of the pyrotechnics and was getting ready to leave after the finally when I heard something surprising coming from the Chicano’s side of the street. They started chanting “U.S.A.! U.S.A.!” (futebol style) I must say that I was rather embarrassed for having taken offense to the group’s choice of languages.

Tonight was actually July 4th (United States Independence Day) and there was another fireworks display in a community right down the road from here. The turnout for that event was enormous and represented all walks of life. There were people from the rich side of town, and people from the apartments near the park where the display was held. There was tall, short, fat and skinny, but everyone there was an American….or at least an American at heart. To illustrate my point…we were parked behind a family who looked Chinese, and as we were leaving the parking lot, we passed Chicanos, Indians and Muslims. Yes, people of every kind turned out to celebrate the birth of our great nation. Some of the people might be perceived by some shortsighted patriots as our enemies. Some of the citizenry might take offense to some of those in attendance because of their frustrations with recent political developments. Nonetheless, when all is said and done, everyone in attendance tonight was there for the same reason…to celebrate our country…to celebrate being Americans.

I consider myself to be an open minded and thoughtful person. I speak four languages, and have traveled outside of my country. I have many friends from diverse corners of the world, carefully follow many political issues, and yet, despite all that, even I, as illustrated above, can fall into the trap of not trusting others based solely on how they talk. With all they struggles going on in the world, the same spirit that made this country strong requires us all to remember that “United we stand and divided we fall.”

May we all be united in our families and communities so that we can be strong as a country living peaceably in the world.

-Texaiano

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It’s now the middle of May, and one day after Mother’s Day. May is full of family activities. There’s high school and college graduation. Most high schools put their prom during May. As I mentioned in my “Foto Memory Minute” yesterday, there are a lot of local festivals and rodeos to attend. So, what have you done to strengthen your family this month? I wanted to highlight two or three opportunities in particular.

Perhaps this is a day late, but yesterday was Mother’s Day here in the U.S. Did you do something nice for your mother? Did you call her and let her know that you were thinking of her and tell her thanks for all of the sacrifices that she made while she was raising you and for all of the nice things that she did for you? If not, it’s not too late.

I know it’s not a perfect world. If it were, every one would have a dear mother who met them at the door after school with a hug and a plate of warm, homemade cookies. In reality, divorce and sheer economic realities have forced many mothers out of the home. So…if you don’t have a mother to show your appreciation to, what about your grandmother, aunt, sister or wife? Even if you have daughters, they will grow up to be mothers some day. Mother’s Day is a day to recognize not only our mother, wife and grandmother, but all women in general - that special aunt, not to mention our daughters, cousins, and nieces. So, go ahead and reach out to the women in your life. Aside from the usual flowers, jewelry and chocolate, you can make a unique gift by putting together a photo montage of all of your favourite snap-shots to present to her. Don’t forget to call or visit them too. As mom always says, the best and most thoughtful gifts don’t come from the store.

Memorial Day, at the end of May, is another special day set aside for honoring special people - the nation’s fallen veterans. Now, I don’t want to get into a debate about the merits of the current conflict. What I do want to do, however, is to remind you to support the troops. Remember and honor the men and women who serve in the nation’s military, both in the present conflict, as well as the past. Draw your family together and do something for the troops - write cards, put together care packages, raise a flag to pole and fly the flag…whatever. Just do something together. By honoring the veterans as a family, you instill a sense of pride, community and ownership in your children. You also build memories. Even though technically Memorial Day is designated to honor fallen veterans, and Veterans Day is meant to honor living veterans, you can still take this opportunity, if someone in your family has served in the military, your father, uncle, grandfather, brother, or son, make them the guest of honor at a family awards banquet that focuses on their story of heroism. You can also interview your veteran and record their story in your family history. If you don’t have any veterans in your family, and don’t have any desire to get involved with today’s military people, pick a military conflict in our nation’s history and have each family member research it. Try to be as fair and unbiased as possible and then get together to share the history that you have discovered. You can get pictures of past conflicts from the National Archives to add to a scrap book or digital scrap book.

Memorial Day is also the start of the summer bar-b-que season. Gather all of your family and friends around. Have everyone bring their favorite outside dish. And enjoy good food, good company, and good weather. (Even our VEGAN friends can enjoy a backyard bar-b-que, since there are no rules limiting a cook out to sausage, hamburgers, ribs and brisket.)

Now that you are armed with some new ideas, go out and make some memories with your family.

-Texaiano

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