A Charlie Brown 4th of July

I love the 4th of July with all of my heart and soul. It is my favorite holiday. Everything about it is magical, and I cry EVERY time. I used to be able to keep the tears in until the very end of the day, but every year that goes by they just sneak up on me. I get goosebumps as I stand on the side of University Avenue with my hand on my heart watching the flag go by, and then those Jets fly overhead and I see my Mom and Grandma wiping their tears, and my brother (who will remain nameless) trying his hardest not to cry. I just can't help myself. Even Rick cries - and he's an INDIAN! We love America an embarrassing amount.

This year I knew it would be different. I knew it would be hard being away from my friends and family, and I knew that nobody celebrates the 4th of July like Provo, but I didn't know it would be this depressing.

We woke up at 6 (yes 6, that is how much I love this Holiday) because the night before we had spent a lot of time online searching for parades. We found ONE in the entire city of Tucson, and it sounded promising - 48th annual parade, breakfast at 7 with the parade starting at 9. Perfect. We got ready, put the address in our GPS and we were on our way. The address took us to a neighborhood that wasn't near any of the main streets in Tucson. 

As we got closer we saw a booth with a handmade sign welcoming everyone to the 48th annual Pima Neighborhood Parade. They told us to pull up and that breakfast was $3. The breakfast was held in someone's front yard and everyone but us was wearing matching t-shirts. We wondered if we were crashing a family reunion, but were too curious to leave. After talking to the lady who took our money (The head of the Neighborhood Committee) we learned that it was a parade put on every year by every one in the neighborhood.

We finished our breakfast and left to go see if there was anything else going on. No cars, no people, no signs, not even any flags were out. Tucson was a ghost town. It was time for the parade to start so we drove back to the neighborhood. As we pulled up, we spotted 4 cop cars, and a tv news crew.

We thought that maybe this was going to be bigger than we had originally planned. If the Police are there then it's REALLY a parade. I was excited. We got out, and in the middle of the street was everyone from the neighborhood dressed up, ready to march. I was confused because if everyone in the neighborhood was IN the parade than who was going to WATCH the parade? The answer - Me, Meeko, and some other lady. I stood there, in awe/disbelief as the parade started.

The best part was when the lady standing in her lawn with her horse made her entrance. The horse was absolutely terrified and I'm surprised it didn't kill someone.

The parade lasted for approximately 45 seconds, as the 50 people walked around the block. Not pictured is the guy dressed like captain america, and the rootbeer float float, consisting of a small child in a red wagon dressed like a can of rootbeer with white balloons on his head. You know how they give out candy at parades? The rootbeer float float gave a real rootbeer float to the lady standing next to me. They would have given me one but my arms were full because someone's feet were too hot.

I have to give credit to this sweet little neighborhood for making the best out of it for 48 years, but compared to Utah I could not believe that this was really happening.

When we got home we decided to head to the pool and relax. As I was laying out I told myself that no matter how homesick I was and no matter how sad that parade was, I was going to make the best of it and I was still going to have a great 4th of July. I then saw something out of the corner of my eye. A baby bird had just fallen out of the tree next to me, and was on the ground. It couldn't fly yet, and it was really struggling. With my new positive mindset, I ran over to save the helpless life. Rick told me I needed to put the bird in the shade somewhere. I picked it up and as I was looking for a good comfy spot for my new friend, it died in my hands.

Seriously, that all just happened.

The good news, though, is that Meeko found his soul mate and now he's in love.