If you are anything like I am, this day brings to mind so many great memories. I must admit though, when I think of July 4^th, I usually groan at the prospect of the inevitable extreme hot temperatures associated with Independence Day in Texas. Anyone who knows me well knows that I do not like to sweat! Which, by the way, is also inevitable if you are born a Hollingsworth?

Now that I have all of that out of the way, I will try to get back to the memories. I met and married my husband in Oklahoma City and we established our home in the area where my parents and brothers lived. We had our first son while we lived in Oklahoma. On the fourth, we would go to my folk’s house and celebrate. We would have friends over for hot dogs, homemade ice cream and fireworks in Mom and Dad’s backyard.

The absolute best part of the celebration was always the family dog, Prissy. Prissy was half Chihuahua, half Pekinese and blonde. She had the short hair of a Chihuahua and the flattened face of a Pekinese. Her tail curled like the Pekinese and her ears were like those of a Chihuahua. The only thing was that her ears sat on the sides of her head like a Pekinese, but did not fold over. They stood out like those of a Chihuahua. She was one funny looking dog, but she had such great energy that everyone loved her.

Prissy loved July 4^th. Unlike most dogs that are afraid of all of the noise from the fireworks, Prissy was all about it! My brothers would have firecrackers going off all day long, and then bottle rockets and other fireworks into the evening. Prissy stayed out in the yard all day and evening. Every time someone would light a fuse, Prissy would run to it, put her face down at it and bark her silly head off until it exploded! Then she would shake her head and wait for the next one. This went on for hours and by the end of the day Prissy was so exhausted that my mother would give her a baby aspirin so that she could rest. She generally slept most of the next day.

Now, before you go and get all worked up about us letting our dog do this, remember that this was 1975, or so. For the most part, dogs were relegated to the outside back then and were fortunate if they had a doghouse to go into when it rained!

Our other son was born after we moved to Boyd, Texas where I have other fun memories of July 4^th. We lived on acreage at the top of a hill. It was a great place for fireworks because you could see all around. Prissy was not with us by then, but we had other, more normal dogs who were properly terrified of the fireworks!

What I love the most about this holiday is sitting in a lawn chair, looking up at the fireworks with family and friends and reflecting on the freedoms we celebrate in this country. I hope we never take that freedom for granted. I hope that each of us takes the time to say a prayer for our country (agendas aside) and remembers just how blessed we are.