Growing up in the mountains
of East Tennessee our family chose to not get involved with shooting fireworks for
the Fourth of July. My parents explained
that we did not do this because fireworks could be dangerous and then told some
stories about people they knew who had been injured by them. Mama, the guardian of the family money, said
it was foolish to spend money on fireworks.
She said”Why, it’s just like setting fire to your money and watching it
explode in front of your face!” This
statement also meant the discussion was over. Herman’s parents seemed to hold
the same viewpoint as my family, but his Dad did admit to having enjoyed
fireworks when he was younger and told some funny stories about his friends and
fireworks. He also allowed Herman to shoot off some firecrackers some years, but
always being instructive about safety.
After Herman and I married
and had children of my own, we had to confront the issue of fireworks with our
own two boys. By the time the boys were 12 and 4 we had become fans of the Nashville
Sounds and rarely missed a fireworks night. Throwing caution to the wind, we
convinced ourselves that there was a ‘safe’ way to use fireworks and off we
went to one of those famous fireworks tents that spring up like mushrooms in
Tennessee about two weeks before the fourth of July. Here we explored all kinds
of ‘blow up’ gear like rolling firework tanks, firecrackers, sparklers, bottle
rockets, cherry bombs, and anything that
had an interesting description on the outside package. All four of us were like
kids in a candy store! We finally exited
the tent two hours later having spent $100 on this shopping spree which was far
more than the $10 we had planned to spend. Like many Tennessee families we did
our own fireworks show and thought we were almost professionals. These Fourth
of July celebrations lasted until the boys lost interest and moved on to bigger
toys.
Looking back now at our
firework displays and remembering the joy of discovering something new with
these sons, I’m reminded of so many other things that we ‘discovered’ with
them. Our own protected childhoods have
been challenged in so many ways by our kids. I’m so glad we took some risks and
challenges together as a family because it has been these things that have held
us close as a family and some of the best stories we have to share with each
other.
