Independence Day Lessons from Papaw

This column originally appeared in the Odessa American newspaper July 2, 2017. It appears here by permission of the newspaper. The text of this column appears as it originally did 3 years ago, but I have taken the liberty of adding some clarifications.

My paternal grandfather, known affectionately as Papaw Sharp, was not a fan of the Independence Day holiday. He was not unpatriotic, in fact, it was quite the opposite. He served honorably in World War II, but his time in war changed him in many ways. A holiday that most of his fellow citizens viewed as an excuse to set off as many loud explosions as possible brought back an avalanche of unpleasant memories, most of which he would take to his grave having never shared with anyone.

Knowing this about my grandfather I was shocked one July 4th when I was in my late teens when he suggested that I bring some of my friends to his house to shoot off fireworks. Still puzzled, I agreed, and then mentioned the curious invite to my dad. My dad chuckled and explained my grandfather’s motivation. His neighbors had been keeping him up all week shooting fireworks, and so he was hoping that my friends and I would keep them up for at least one night, and provide him with a satisfactory measure of retaliation. I laughed and started making phone calls to friends. If my grandfather wanted retribution we would need a lot of people shooting off fireworks.

That night we all showed up at my grandparent’s house. He had expected me to bring 2 or 3 people, but by the time I was done inviting there were close to 20 of us shooting what amounted to a small fortune’s worth of fireworks. In fact, there were so many fireworks that we went in shifts. Some people set off fireworks, and some people sat on chairs in the yard. At one point, I wandered into the yard to take a break only to discover that my dear, well into her seventies grandmother, Nanny as she was known to all, was giving my best friend and his new fiancé something of a sex talk. I heard, “We had 14 years between kids, so we didn’t figure it out. They have books to tell you all about it,” and I promptly went back to the fireworks cursing the fact that it isn’t possible to unhear something.

My grandfather’s plan to bring a sleepless night to his neighbors worked, but not in the way he had intended. We had so many people shooting so many fireworks that most of his neighbors came out of their houses to watch the display. Instead of exacting vengeance, he unwittingly hosted the biggest fireworks bash his neighborhood had ever seen. He wanted vengance and got a block party.

2020 certainly hasn’t been our best moment as a country, but we live in a country with high ideals, and there is still time to live up to them. The promise of freedom that my grandfather fought for has for too long been too far out of reach for too may people. We have reason to celebrate freedom, even if we have more work to do to ensure that our love of freedom isn’t just talk.

This weekend celebrate freedom and independence with gusto. Just remember two lessons I learned from my Papaw. First, there are people in your neighborhood who paid a price, probably higher than you realize, for the freedom that you celebrate. Second, attempts at revenge rarely pay off, and when they do it is never in the way that you intend.

Happy Independence Day!