Thankfully, Mother Nature was smiling down on us and the weather couldn’t have been nicer.  The only thing broiling today would be our steaks and The Crabby Old Guy had anxiously been preparing his secret concoction of spices and oils to perfectly season his aged steaks. This was not a simple process since he had started the day before and I swear James Beard had to be chuckling from his perch on high.  Yes, the old boy was stirring, mixing and tasting as he marbleized, marinated and spoke sweet nothings to 6 pounds of prime beef.  Had it not been for our rusty Golden Years he might have been tempted on this special occasion to splurge on some Kobe beef but sadly that was pre early retirement and recession.

However, everything was just perfect for this 4th of July barbecue.  Crabby and I had made this spur-of-the-moment decision to visit our Marine son, the Sergeant and his wife and our beautiful 10 month old grandson for a glorious four day weekend on the Marine base where they live with thousands of other brave military families. 

As I looked around I could see other families preparing for their celebrations.  All the men were out stoking up the coals or turning on the gas in preparation for their master meal.  The moms were all chatting while the children were playing and laughter could be heard throughout the neighborhood.  It could have been in any American town but this is a special town filled with special people.  What better way to observe and celebrate our Independence then with the courageous men and women who put their lives in harm’s way to keep us all safe and able to live our lives in liberty.

Sarge had invited another Marine family to join us and, as they say in The Big Easy, let the good times roll.  The men huddled over the barbecue as they observed the intensity of the coals as if some spark would scream out ready!  While my husband and son debated over the amount of time and turning it would take to cook these masterpieces just perfectly my daughter-in-law and I quickly and efficiently brought out the home grown tomato salad, southern baked beans, golden yellow corn-on-the-cob, cole slaw, and potato salad.  Let’s just say it took less preparation and debate to set up all the sides than the work of art the men were creating to cook one item.

As we all sat down, the Crabby Old Guy said a prayer which included thanks for all our blessings and especially for all our troops that would be spending this day on foreign soil protecting our liberties. As I looked around at all the young smiling faces I realized how fragile and important days like these could be. Yes, another memory to include in the sunny side of my Golden Years.

Dinner was finished off with watermelon, fresh strawberry shortcake and coffee.  Afterwards, the women decided to relax and play with the babies while the macho men, including my a-bit-past-true-macho hubby, opted for a competitive game of, ahem, horseshoes.

Let me tell you our military men redefine the word competition.  They set up the pegs and started tossing.  After two full 7-point games which took quite a while to finish mid-way through the third game the Marines decided that the reason it was going so slowly was that the pegs were to close together and that, follow the logic here folks, of course, made it too hard to score points.  So with a moment of genius they moved the pegs double the distance and continued the third game. Crabby’s could not believe what he was hearing and seeing, his only response was a rather droll, “Hmmm, now I know you work for the government. In the middle of the game you change the rules and make it harder so you can make it easier.”

That night I lay in bed and counted my blessings.  With five children and five grandchildren each life was precious and days like these are days that will live forever as memories in the minds of all of our generations forever.

God Bless America, Our Military Families and Our Traditions!

Hugs,

Joan Giorgianni

The Savvy Old Lady ©