20 Fourths Ago

Recently discussing with someone what there is to do in Washington, DC for Independence Day brought back memories of the last time we spent the Fourth of July in the District as a family.


It was 20 years ago, 1992.  We had just returned from living in Europe for three and a half years and the kids and their Mom had not been back in the States all that time.  JW was 16, and that summer he got to experience something which he had wanted to do for many years; attend Space Camp in Huntsville, AL.  We were staying in temporary housing in Northern Virginia for a couple of months and JW was scheduled to fly into National Airport the night of the 4th of July.  The rest of us thus went to the live performance on the Capitol lawn that evening and then got to see most of the fireworks on the Mall before leaving via Metro to pick up JW at the airport.

Two things I distinctly remember from that evening was how excited JW was to see the fireworks on the Mall from the airplane while it was landing at National Airport; the other was, not for the first time, JW lost his camera, having left it on the airplane.

16 in July.  Little did any of us know that JW had just passed the midpoint of his earthly life.  But a very full life it was; JW always living life to the fullest.  For further reflections on being 16 in July, click here.