Bananas and Icecream.

The morning would be ripe with the air of youthful joy as the clock would finally sing the tune of revelry, and the sun would be coming over the top of the fields to the east. Christmas? No, it was early in the morning of July 4th, In those days, the 4th of July was bigger than Christmas in the house that my dad grew up in.

 My dad told us the story of how my grandfather would make homemade ice cream one day a year, and that was of course, the 4th of July. He would have saved all year, and he would then give each of his eight kids fifty cents. Now days most kids probably don't even know what such a small amount looks like, but when my dad was growing up in the depressed economy of SW Missouri, .50 was a lot of money.

 My dad would then go into town, go to the "picture show" as he called it, and then buy bananas. Yes, bananas, for my dad loved bananas, and the only time that he could afford  them was when he bought them for the 4th What a day for him, ice cream and bananas. His face would still glow when he would tell me about that special day so many years later.

Now, here is it on the verge of another 4th of July, and I am remembering my own 4th of July treasured times.  Happy Birthday, America!