My Favorite Fourth of July

When you read this, we will be on our way to spend the Fourth of July weekend with our granddaughter, Ivy. (And her parents, too, of course!)

I bought her a darling little Fourth of July outfit, complete with a bow. In my anticipation of this very special Fourth of July, I got to thinking about other memories of the holiday, the most special of which was July 4, 1985.

I had graduated from high school just a few weeks earlier and gone right off to Washington D.C. for a summer internship. I was 18 years old and away from home, living in an apartment in a building with other college kids there for the same reason. One of them was a boy from Pennsylvania. He had just finished his sophomore year of college.

We went on our first date in June, but I begged him to take me to see the Beach Boys perform at the national mall July 4. He agreed. I didn’t realize it then but now I know what an amazing act of love that was!

According to what I can find about the event now, there were over half a million people there that day! And I believe it! Never in my life have I been in such a crowd! We found a spot as close as we could to the stage—which was still quite far away. We could hear the music even though the performers looked like miniatures of themselves. (I think I have a picture of us there, but I couldn’t find it!)

Although my main goal was to the see the Beach Boys, we got to see other performers I loved in the process. Joan Jett. The Oakridge Boys. Katrina and the Waves, whose hit “Walking on Sunshine” still takes me back to our summer of dating. Then the Beach Boys took the stage, and it was bliss. We stayed to the very last song, even though Jeff would rather have left a bit earlier to beat the crowd out of there.

And he had a point. But I was young and wanted the whole experience; I wasn’t thinking beyond that. By the time all 550,000+ of us got up to leave, Jeff was stressed. He held tight to my hand, guiding us through the crowd. I could tell by the set of his mouth that he wasn’t happy. I remember asking God to please get us home quickly.

When we made it to where buses were parked, we simply boarded the the first available one, deciding that wherever it dropped us it would be easier to navigate homeward from there rather than trying to find the exact right bus in the mayhem.

Turned out that the bus went to the Pentagon stop of the Metro. The train for our line arrived immediately. When we arrived at the station in Alexandria, VA, the bus we needed was waiting. Somehow we arrived back at our apartment building about an hour after the concert was over. Which was truly miraculous. An answer to prayer that likely saved our relationship from ending before it had truly begun.

From that relationship came a marriage and three children. 30 years after our Fourth of July adventure, our youngest son was working a summer internship in DC and his college girlfriend came to visit over that July 4th weekend. They got married, too. And this April they gave us sweet Ivy, who might make this July 4th the most memorable of all!

Whatever your plans for this holiday weekend remember that the freedom we enjoy is a privilege to be thankful for.

Do you have any special Fourth of July memories? Please share!

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D'Ann Mateer

Inspired by novelist Eugenia Price, D’Ann’s dream of writing historical fiction with an element of faith began in middle school, though her serious drive toward publication took a bit longer. D’Ann is the author of four historical novels and one novella, as well as a contemporary short stories in a compilation volume. D’Ann and her husband of 30 years can be found in Austin, TX when they aren’t touring historic sites or visiting their grown children.

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