Families and Fireworks

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.