Saturday Night Genealogy Challenge: 4th Of July Memories

The original post for this weeks Saturday Night's Challenge and the links to all the participant blogs can be found HERE:

The wording of the blog prompt follows:

It's Saturday Night and the Fourth of July is Tuesday - let's have some Genealogy Fun! If you're reading this on Sunday morning, or even later, it's not too late for you to participate.

1. Think of the best Fourth of July you remember from your childhood.

2. Think of the best Fourth of July you remember from your adulthood.

3. What will,  you do on the holiday?

4. Write about one, or all, of them on your blog or in Comments to this post, or on Facebook or Google+. 

I just got home from visiting my daughter's home.  Yesterday she hosted our family's 4th Of July celebration.  Every year in my family someone has something for the 4th holiday.  It has traditionally been as big a deal as any other holiday of the year such as Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter as far as a family meal and gathering.   Since the 4th is a summer time holiday it generally involves grilling out.   I really don't remember it being that big of deal when I was child.  My recollection of the 4th of July tradition begins with the time frame of my children being small and my parents buying a retirement property at a lake.   It is those years that I am sure everyone in my family will agree that the best memories were made.  My mother was alive and she was definitely the matriarch of the family which included being the boss of the 4th of July annual bash.  It lasted a couple of days and the food was great and the fireworks were wonderful.  There was a boat parade on the lake that sometimes we decorated the pontoon boat and participated while other years we sat on the pier and watched the boat parade go by.  Mom made it clear that my siblings and myself could miss the family gathering of any holiday and she would understand except we better not miss the 4th of July.  As a result it was well attended and my children know their cousins and have friendships with them. After mom died in the fall of 1990 we continued to gather for the fourth of July.  My step mother that has also passed on and my current step mother have both attempted to help us continue the tradition.  My daughter has also been instrumental in the annual gathering and attempting to increase the momentum to the era when my mom orchestrated the event.  We all always enjoy the get togethers but I don't think any of us quite get the same feeling we did back then.  I am sure for me part of the change is that my children are grown and having small children is always a special time.  I am glad my son makes the effort to get my grandson to the events.  Perhaps sometime in the future I will look back at the current gatherings with the same nostalgia I do of the ones in the 1980s.   Below is a picture of me back then getting the balloons ready for decorating the boat for the parade.   It would have been taken in the middle to late 1980s.