Wordless Wednesday: Fireworks and flashbacks

I was doing laundry tonight and listening to the fireworks outside when I realized I really, really don't like fireworks. I don't mind watching them, but I'd rather not have to deal with the heat and bugs one has to face while watching them outside, and tonight I'm cursing my neighbors for the loud booms that threaten to wake up my daughter.

I tried to figure out why I'm hating on such a mainstay of Independence Day celebrations when I started to remember past July 4th holidays. And honestly? Most of them were spent working, which is why I probably don't remember much. I remember watching fireworks from my parents' backyard when I was in high school. I remember driving to my sister's my first year out of college to spend the holiday weekend with her and my brother-in-law. But for the most part, in the last decade, if I wasn't working, I didn't want to venture out and battle throngs of people for a prime viewing spot of the fireworks that I'm so "meh" about anyway.

But one July 4th definitely stands out to me, and I think it will always be one of my favorites. Tim and I started dating in November 2003. I moved 2.5 hours away in December 2003. And in May 2004, we broke up for a few weeks, largely due to circumstances caused by/involving the instability of a long-distance relationship that didn't really have a "local" foundation. (But also because I'm part spaz and was miserable in my new job. But that's a different story.) Three weeks of dating while living in the same area code isn't much, especially when the long-distance that follows involves hectic work schedules and other life stresses.

So we broke up in May. It was hard, and it was emotional. But after a few weeks, we both realized that we weren't happy apart - there was definitely something there, and we both wanted to give it another shot. We were cautious, and we took things slow - phone calls, then a short visit by him up to me in Michigan, and I think the July 4th visit was the first "we're seriously getting back together" visit that lasted more than a day or two. I drove down for the weekend, and by some miracle he was off, too, so we went to one of our favorite parks for the city's big July 4th bash. We ran in to the mayor and several other city officials that Tim knew, and we saw the publisher of the newspaper that we had met at and Tim was still working at, so it kind of felt like I was dating a celebrity :)

Eventually we spread out on a blanket, the sun began to set and the city's symphonic band filled the air with patriotic tunes and John Philip Sousa marches. Before it got too dark, we had someone take this photo of us (I think it might actually have been the mayor!), and it is one of my favorites.

We both look young and happy and hopeful, and it was such a relaxing, enjoyable, reassuring night.  I'm a pretty anxious person in general, and I just remember being content that night - happy to be with Tim, to be enjoying the evening's sights and sounds and relaxing in the night air of the city where we had met and started our relationship.

Truth be told, we did break up one other time under different circumstances, about two years later (still long-distance dating, although at that point I was 4.5 hours away instead of 2.5), but it didn't last as long. Now that we've been together for almost nine years, those short break ups feel like little speed bumps in a longer, exciting road trip. This first break up was definitely a defining time in our relationship, marked by one July 4th holiday that showed us that we are simply happier together,.