My childhood Fourth of Julys

were in a small town, so there wasn't always a big display of fireworks. I do remember one time when I was really little my family did go to a town display at the beach, which was amazingly exciting. But mostly families did their own Fourth of July. I remember my Dad and brother setting off rockets and twirlers and (to me, anyway) the bigger, louder fireworks. I was allowed to handle only sparklers, as were my friends. But we were thrilled with the sparklers. We'd run around the front yard in the dark, a sparkler in each hand. The sizzle, glitter, and glow of those sparklers were plenty exciting for us. Of course, later it was determined that sparklers can be just as dangerous as other fireworks, because they reach such a high temperature. But back then they were considered safe for little kids, and, with our parents watching, we managed to have fun, not get hurt, and build sparkling memories of our childhood Fourth of Julys.