On July 4th, 2001, I was out in the yard of my new house doing yard work. I'd just moved in 5 days before, and was actually enjoying sprucing up the yard (now, I despise yard work!). I was really surprised to see folks wandering down my street -- people in Texas do not walk! Before long, I saw people unfolding lawn chairs up and down the street that ran beside my house. When I asked what was up, I learned the neighborhood parade was about to start. How exciting -- my house was on the parade route!
I was bummed that Zoe wasn't with me -- what was supposed to be a 6-9 month wait to adopt from China had jumped to 12 months (sounds ridiculous now, with wait times of 6-7 YEARS), and I couldn't help but be sad that Zoe wasn't with me for the parade. That next year, a tradition was born: our friends who waited to adopt around the same time I did, whose kids weren't home as expected for that 4th of July, came to celebrate the 4th by participating in the parade. Today was the 11th Annual 4th of July Parade/Watermelon & Lemonade Bash!
Take a look, world, at what an American citizen looks like today!
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