The Fourth of July weekend is almost here. All right, now what do you do? There are so many things to get done at the office before you can even think about taking that family vacation that you really want or even need right now.

If the office work is not enough, then you have to think about the home front. Just how many loads of clothes do you have to wash before you can even pack a bag for a family trip. The good thing about the Fourth of July is that you don’t have to go on a family vacation to enjoy it. The day was created in honor of our freedom, and that means you still have all of the rights that so many of our fathers, fathers died to give us.

It’s funny that we celebrate the day with fireworks and grill out pool parties since when the holiday began many of the people didn’t have enough food to throw a celebration.

This year when you get ready to celebrate the Fourth of July, remember to take a minute to slow down and truly be thankful for the rights that were given to you by this holiday. If it were not for soldiers fighting for our freedom, then we wouldn’t have any freedom left, meaning there would be no holiday to celebrate with family and friends. For those of you who can, the fourth would be a good time to stop and send a soldier overseas a thank you letter to help in keeping up his or her spirits while they are still over there fighting a new fight for our freedom. One man who was very passionate about our future and the dreams of our land said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” Martin Luther King Jr. made a good point with that statement. We should all try to keep the light on and love in our hearts.