Danielle's column

The Fourth of July was my absolute favorite holiday growing up, albeit for my own selfish reasons.

The Fourth of July was my absolute favorite holiday growing up, albeit for my own selfish reasons. When I was a kid I was under a false impression that the Fourth of July was not only a holiday to celebrate America's birthday, but a holiday to celebrate my own birthday.

You see, my birthday is July 7 and I used to think that I had a four-day birthday party starting on July 4 because my parents combined the family Fourth of July gathering with my family birthday party. Now that I am older I realized my parents did this so we would only have to have one family get-together in July instead of two, as sometimes too much family is not a good thing.

Every July 4 my parents would throw a pool party at my grandparents' house back in Milwaukee. For a kid, a pool party is the secret to a child's heart, so you can see why growing up I thought the Fourth of July was in part a national holiday celebrating the birth of, well, me.

But, to make my case even stronger, the pool party wasn't even the best part of my childhood Fourth of July/birthday parties. My parents' house is across the street from a school and one block away from a public park. Every Fourth of July my family and I would head across the street, set up some lawn chairs and await an amazing fireworks display my parents sneakily said were ordered specifically for my birthday.

I would sit in my lawn chair and watch crowds of people from my neighborhood walking to the park to enjoy my birthday present. Being in my own childhood bubble, it wasn't for years until I realized fireworks were used everywhere to celebrate the Fourth of July, not just in my neighborhood to celebrate my birthday.

Every Fourth when the sun went down, my mom would say "Ready Danielle, here's your birthday present, it should be even better than last year."

Boy did they have me fooled. I would sit there as the sky blazed with fireworks of every color thinking to myself ‘what a great birthday gift, I hope next year they finally get me a dog.'

I can't remember how or when I learned that these fireworks were not ordered for me and me alone, but I did finally come to my senses. Now the ‘birthday fireworks' are a running joke in my family and at my own gullibility.

Now that I'm older and wizened up a bit, I must say the Fourth of July is still my favorite holiday. It's my favorite holiday because everyone just gathers to celebrate the same thing no matter where you live in the United States; our independence.

Spending my first Fourth of July weekend here in Sanders County, I was amazed at the dedication these small communities have when it comes to celebrating their independence. Small efforts throughout the county sprang up everywhere, mostly through donations and the help of volunteers.

Although I couldn't attend every town's celebration and only made it to Thompson Falls, Plains and Paradise's Fourth of July celebrations on Sunday, it warmed my heart. I felt closer to home as I watched the Sanders County fairgrounds light up late Sunday evening celebrating the holiday with new friends, knowing that my family spent the evening doing the same exact thing even though they were 1,600 miles away.

I hope you all had a safe and happy holiday.

If you have Fourth of July stories you'd like to share, please e-mail Danielle Switalski at reporter@vp-mi.com.