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Mark Newgent
Baltimore History ExaminerMark Newgent is a writer and editor with a talent for breathing history into everyday happenings.
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Showing entries for Category: Fourth-of-July
Self Evident Truths
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by Mark Newgent, Baltimore History Examiner
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I know, I know, what kind of history examiner does no post on the 4th of July! Well sometimes you have to take a time out and live life (or history) to enjoy it. I did that this weekend. I could have spent time putting together a post about our storied revolution. I could have waxed nostalgic about how our founders drew a line in the sand and said no more to the tyranny of King George. I could have written about how on July 4 1863, the smoke had cleared from the fields of Gettysburg where brave men gave the "last full measure of devotion" turning the tide of a war, which would decide whether or not our form of government would "perish from the earth." Those tales have been told, and will be told again and again. I'm sure I will tell them sometime in future. However, this Fourth of July provided a bit of personal history for me. You see it was the first one for my daughter Mattie, and really, the first one for me as a father. Mattie is almost three now, and our last two 4ths were rained out. This one came close as well. This was the first time she was going to see fireworks. As an adult I've been kind of jaded when it comes to fireworks. After all, how new and exciting can they be for a 34-year old!
As we get older the things that excited us as children no longer hold the same joy. Jaded maybe too strong a word, but the feeling that Christmas or your birthday, are just not the same, is palpable. All that changed last Friday night. The joy came not from the fine performance of the BSO or the dazzling fireworks display. Rather it came from the joy they provided my daughter. Seeing the starbursts reflected in her widened eyes, and her fists clenched up to her chest in excitement allowed me to capture a glimpse of the joy I had once felt.
The Fourth of July is about remembering our declaration of independence from Great Britain, and that there are brave men and women who put their lives on the line to defend our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Yes it is all about those big things, but it is also about the small things, like the gleam in your child’s eyes at the rocket’s red glare.
Topics: Fourth of July
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