My Real Memoir
(See below for video)
I loved fireworks as a kid. Loved watching things burn (no, I wasn’t a pyromaniac, just a boy–as if there was a difference). I loved dousing my old model planes in lighter fluid and staging air disasters. Loved lighting the “snakes” the SoCal firework stands sold, and watching them turn into ashy little turds on the sidwalk. Loved writing my name in the air
with sparklers. And I especially loved firecrackers — even after a match I’d used for a replacement fuse hurled itself up my nose, causing a glorious fiesta of blood on my t-shirt!
But most of all I loved real fireworks. At the end of my junior year, my parents let me throw an all-night party. My friends and I sat on the roof watching the fireworks over Disneyland just ten miles away. And then my two graduating intellectual friends, my buddy Jeff’s Berkley-bound big brother Robin and German foreign exchange student Heri, and I, sat there till three in the morning talking about America, Disneyland, fireworks and the meaning of life.
But it wasn’t until years later that I made the connection between 4th of July fireworks and those “bombs bursting in air” we sing about in our country’s national anthem.
I’ve never been a “my-country-love-it-or-leave-it” type. Nor do I believe native-born Americans are inherently better than anyone else. Heck, it’s the foreign-born immigrants who regularly replenish our national DNA with their reckless gumption and relentless dreams that best embody our American spirit.
But I do think something extraordinary happened when those imprudent idealists affixed their names to the Declaration of Independence, and then backwoodsmen and women in buckskins and townies in wool laid down their lives to make it a reality.
But what does this mean to Americans now?
To answer this question for myself, I wrote a short narrative, My Declaration, that has been performed by churches and organizations throughout the U.S. If you’d like to read or perform it, click here for the monologue or here for the group (ensemble) version.
I also created a video. Hope you enjoy it. (Note: if you’d like to download a copy for your church or organization to use–or even for yourself–click here).
Happy Independence Day!
My Real Memoir is a series. To read the next one, click here.
“When they signed the Declaration, they were signing a death warrant.” And truth.
‘I may not be one of its founders, but I am one of its continuers.’ I love that sort of commitment. Thanks Mitch
My pleasure, Malcolm. Happy 4th! I know, you’re English but, hey, it’s still the 4th of July there, right? ;>)
Your “My Declaration” video packed a lot of punch for it’s short length. Happy Fourth of July to you and your family, Mitch.
Thank you, Nancy.
Thanks for this, Mitch. Democracy is not love or leave it. It is love it or fix it.
Exactly, Don.
Your video is great!
Thank you, Luisa!
You’re highly welcome!🙏
Love, love, love this!!
Delighted to hear that, Carol!
Have a fun and happy 4th of July, Mitch!
You too, Kellye!
Loved the video!!
Thanks!
Fantastic! Great video with some incredibly thought-provoking truths. Thank you for producing this and reminding us of this precious heritage we share.
HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!
Thank you, Russell!
Awesome! Happy 4th of July!
Thank you, Scott!
Excellent video!
Thanks, Liz!
You’re welcome, Mitch!
Great job with the video, Mitch! It would be wonderful to have that taught and shown in every high school in the US.
Thank you, Manette.
Marvelous! Amazing! But most of all moving. Thanks!
Thank you so much, Muri (or is it Muris?).
Thank you, Mitch! Inspiring!❤️🙏🇺🇸🎇
My privilege, Renee!
Your compelling video presents an important reminder: “Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them”–Franklin D. Roosevelt. May we NOT forget!
Amen, Nancy!
Thank you for sharing, Mitch!
My pleasure, Damyanti.
Happy Independence day 💐Mitch!
Thanks, Ramani!
What a great video! Such a great job of reminding us of the continuing importance of the Declaration of Independence. Thanks!
My privilege, Ann!
We venerate our forefathers, and then ignore their writing and their legacy. To say “all men are created equal” did not become a reality. That reality is OUR commitment.
It is indeed, JW.