wp-plugin-bluehost domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home4/susangib/public_html/blog3/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114FOR HONOR AND GLORY <\/strong> Budget cuts had the town divided on holding the Independence Day Parade and Grand Fireworks Display. The old timers fought for tradition. They and the excited young people won out. Carmel Withers was voted Queen and while the parade was cut down in size, the fireworks would go on as usual. It was our first year here and we\u2019d heard so much about it. My wife and I took our six year-old son and eagerly claimed a close-up spot right on the front edge of the barrier for the nine p.m. show.<\/p>\n It was barely dark when it started. Fountains of all colors of lights slipped low, then higher and higher, breaking open right over our heads. The air around us never stopped reverberating the sound. My son clapped in delight. The bright flashes and beautiful starbursts were the best I\u2019d ever seen and my wife nodded her agreement. There was a brief lull, the sparks still whirling about overhead, when a stage in the middle of the display was lit up and we could see the Queen standing alone in the center. A young, local girl, seventeen, I\u2019d heard. A girl who grew up dreaming of this day. Then the spotlights dimmed and the real show began.<\/p>\n Carmel lit up like a Christmas tree but that wasn\u2019t all. From her fingers shot sparklers dripping as she waved to the crowd. Her hair exploded over and over into red, white, and blue stars and orange spaghetti. Her teeth lit up in a \u201cHappy July 4th!\u201d message, and for the grand finale, her whole body exploded into a glorious mix of colors and flashing fireworks, the pinwheels, the fishies, the double and triple streamers. All the while, the booms and cracks and whistlers and shrieks nearly deafening in themselves, were matched by the gasps and applause of the crowd.<\/p>\n When the last pinwheels sizzled, the last fishies swam into the black ocean of sky, the last spaghetti strand sucked into the night, the crowd slowly broke up and wandered away. I turned to my wife; she, as dumbstruck as me. We both looked at our son, who didn\u2019t seem to realize exactly what happened.<\/p>\n Mrs. Withers was still wiping away tears of joy. Smiling at those who came up to congratulate her. I, still not quite believing what I had just seen, found myself going in her direction, my wife quietly walking behind me, calmly talking to my son.<\/p>\n \u201cYour daughter,\u201d I said, \u201cI\u2019m so sorry.\u201d I didn\u2019t know what else to say.<\/p>\n \u201cOh no!\u201d said the woman. She put a hand on my arm, her face beaming in the paltry light of the moon. \u201cWe\u2019re thrilled,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s what Carmel always dreamed of,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut she\u2019s dead<\/em>,\u201d I said. I felt my wife\u2019s elbow dig into my side and she pulled me away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" FOR HONOR AND GLORY Word Count: 477 Budget cuts had the town divided on holding the Independence Day Parade and Grand Fireworks Display. The old timers fought for tradition. They and the excited young people won out. Carmel Withers was … Continue reading
\nWord Count: 477<\/p>\n