My family and I ended up going to a local town in the suburbs of Chicago to see the fireworks. It was good to spend time with my older sister Diane and her husband. All my family members were there except for Marc, my younger brother. He was out in California.
As the fireworks were about to begin, they had all of us stand and take off our hats (if we had them) for the singing of the National Anthem. In fact, it was a moving moment for me as I was thinking about all the sacrifices people have made for this country so that we can enjoy the freedom that we now have. But as we were singing the anthem, I panned out to see the crowd and then noticed something that began to bother me.
There were a group of high school students that were just sitting down with their hats on almost in defiance. Something inside of me wanted to go to them and tell them to stand and show some respect. But then I was thinking about how I was so rebellious in high school and I just decided to let it go.
But as we were driving back, Christina and I had a conversation about the situation. We came to 2 conclusions:
Either way, I was able to enjoy an awesome firework display and I was more convinced then ever to teach my kids about honor and respect.