Hi, I’m Natalie Nichols,

Every year on July 4th we celebrate what has come to be known as “Independence Day.” I think back to the letter that Founding Father, John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail, July 3, 1776 with great awe and admiration. Adams wrote to his wife that day that America’s independence should be “commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.”
 
We have carried out Adams’ wishes with our annual parades and fireworks displays. But what is most important is that we not lose sight of what our ancestors gave so that we might have the freedoms that so many of us take for granted. Ordinary citizens…farmers, blacksmiths, lawyers, doctors…left their homes to band together and fight for our honor and for our liberty. Most of them knew that they were largely outmatched by the British, and that they might very well lose their lives. But they weren’t fighting for themselves, they were fighting on principle, for the future of this great nation. The Revolutionary War has taken on a whole new meaning for me as of late. Reading about these long past wars in a textbook is abstract. However, tracing your lineage back to some of these fine men provides an almost indescribable feeling of pride. I have always welled up with tears when listening to songs, such as “God Bless the U.S.A.,” but knowing that those who fought to preserve these freedoms so long ago are not just random people, but my family, gives new cause for celebration in my life.
 
Fourteen generations ago, my family came to America from England on the ship “Defence” in July of 1635.  Twelve generations ago, my great-grandfather, William Reed, was a farmer and Captain of the militia in Lexington, MA and was the first Representative to Lexington in 1714.  Eleven generations ago, my great-grandfather, William Reed, Jr. was also a Captain of the militia in Lexington, and ten generations ago, my great-grandfather, William Reed III, was a volunteer in the Revolutionary War for the Lexington Alarm. Carrying on this tradition, nine generations ago, his son, Nathaniel Reed, my great-grandfather, was a soldier out of Lex-ington in the Revolutionary war.
 
This land is my legacy. It is your legacy.
 
While the 4th of July is a day of family fun and pretty lights in the dark, night sky, it is and has always been a passing of the torch. With each passing year and each parade, we would be humbled to remember what it took so many years ago to give us the liberties that our fore-fathers held so sacred. It is with great honor, a tear in my eye, and a lump in my throat, that I can proudly proclaim, “I’m proud to be an American…And I won’t forget the men who died and gave that right to me.” God Bless the U. S. A.

Natalie Nichols

 

 

Other articles of interest:

Assimilation and the Founding Fathers

Independence Day 2010:  Happy 234th birth America