Erin and Matt went with Lindsey and me to see the fireworks at Grimsley High School on the Fourth. As we were watching, I thought of past Fourths and the state of our country these days. I'm afraid we have lost something essentiallly honest and good that used to define us as a nation and a community; and I don't know if we can ever get it back.

I never remember attending a fireworks display when I was a child. I don't know if that was because there weren't any where we lived or if it simply wasn't something that was important to my family at the time. I am happy to say, there have been very few years since Erin was born that we have not gone to see the fireworks. There was never a questions of whether we would go, just where and with whom. It is called tradition.

At first, we went with David and Kathy and their kids.. There was only Sara and Matthew and three years after Erin, Mary Ashley. By the time the others came along, we had started going with Sandy & Chip, Mama & Daddy and Dot & Harry to Oak Hollow Lake. Sometimes we even took a picnic supper.

Then as Erin got older, we went to Grimsley High School and sat waiting in their stadium for hours so we would have a good seat. We often took some of Erin's friends with us.

Tradition is a good thing. It is gives us constancy and comfort, kind of like a baby on a really good schedule. Let that baby go without a nap and you have one cranky baby. Adults are like that too. We thrive on consistency and a sense of belonging. We want to feel secure and safe. Change is not a bad thing. Without progress and innovation, there would be no life-saving vaccines, no trips to the moon, no Internet.

But not all change is good. When our government begins to take over private industry and raise taxes to the point middle class America is foundering and no one feels confident of their job or their ability to take care of their family, then, I fear we are in terrible trouble. Where are the leaders we elected to make these decisions in the best interest of our country and it's citizens? Why are they betraying us on a wholesale basis? Isn't anyone going to stand up and say, "Enough is enough!"?

I am afraid of what is coming.