It’s Independence day …. the 4th of July and the most American of all American days of celebration . Of all days I had actually chosen this one to write a critique of Americans , all of us and our penchant of contradiction . I was going to write about how we allow some the freedom to use or turn the Constitution as they see fit , or even trample it . But someone changed my mind .
The person responsible for my change of heart is a seven year old from Colombia . His father is a veterinarian recently granted a five year visa to further his studies in Florida as well as share his already advanced knowledge with interested horse breeders here. I think perhaps the kids father has hopes that one day they might be granted the right to permanent residence and whether that ever happens or not is a maybe , but one thing is already a certainty . In a very short period of time that seven year old has embraced America with all his might .
He came down from three hours away with his Mother to experience his very first 4th of July weekend in America with the wife and I . His interest in the traditional American way of slow cooking ribs over charcoal was evident and later suffered a scorched lip from his very first toasted marshmallow .
Wearing a baseball glove was another lifetime first and he was rewarded with a hard ball bounced off the nose before figuring out how to use it. The pain caused by the point of a fish hook while learning to cast a line into the Florida surf before catching the first fish of his life was likely as memorable as the scorched lip and chubby nose.
Learning the art of lazer beaming ants and paper goods with a magnifying glass proved to gratefully be a rather painless lesson . But when his Mother asked “who burned holes in these boxes ?” I could only offer yet another lesson in true Americana ….
We stood together on the street in front of the house that evening to launch loud and colorful fireworks high into the night sky while tormenting all the neighbors and their pets because that’s what Americans do . And he loved every minute of that American weekend celebration just like millions of other “American” kids did .
And the boxes ? well he got off scott free by simply following my advice . He plead the fifth ….
