I grew up on my Grandfather's farm outside of St.Louis. Along with with 4 sets of Aunts and Uncles and as many as 13 Cousins got on the same school bus. Every summer we had a family reunion on the 4th. When I was a young adult in the 70's, before my grandma(1976) and grandpa(1984)died, as many as 150 relatives would celebrate the 4th together. It's sad, but I think this year may be the last. Most of the Aunts and Uncles Have passed(my mother last year) The oldest Aunt is 92 years young and her sister turned 90 on the 2nd of July. It isn't really safe for them to live by themselves, 13 miles from a town of 4000. So, I have really great memories from where I grew up and our 4th of July celebrations. Most of them were from 3 older boy cousins and us 4 younger boy cousins and the Mischief we created. One time, we caught one of the older cousins in the top of a persimmon tree, and bombarded him with green persimmons. I think their was some arsh chewing from the Boys aunt and a black-eye involved....LOL You should hear the one about the rotten tomatoes.
Happy 4th and memories to you all.
Steveb