Last night I went to my best friend's house for our annual fireworks party! People come around five or five thirty, we eat at six. Since Jeff, the veteran that lives with them, isn't doing well, Megan and I were on hotdog duty. She got the bun, I got the hotdogs! It was a lot of fun, and I discovered that I liked it WAY better than standing in line! I'd rather serve people I don't know rather than stand in line with people I don't know! And my best friend was with me, so that seemed to help, too! Before we served the hotdogs, I poured one gallon jugs of water into a pitcher for the lemonade, and brought water out to fill the one that had just water in it, and then Megan and I ate before everyone got there. When the line for hotdogs died down, Aunt Juli (Megan's Mom) offered to get me a pulled pork sandwich before it would be all gone, so I got to eat one of those as I served hotdogs! Then after the fireworks at 10:30, I ate another hotdog. I tell you what, ever since my colonitis started to clear up, I have a brand new appetite!

Anyways, we finally finished serving hotdogs, and we got to go talk to some other people. After standing for awhile, I went outside and sat with a friend who's a sister to me, someone I hardly ever get to see now, and we talked for a long time, then she went to play volleyball and I went back to Megan. I met her boss for the first time last night, and I had a nice time talking to her! Yes... I talk to older adults better than I do people my own age... same with people a few years younger than me!

When it got dark, we went to the back yard to watch the fireworks. I couldn't help but think about how it all started. Before a hundred people showed up to the fireworks party, it was just their family and my at the time much smaller family. We were in the backyard by the pond, a bonfire was going, lightning bugs were all about, and my dad and Megan's dad set off fireworks for a short while.

Years went by, and each year, more and more people were invited and showed up, then started coming every year. Each fireworks show got better and better. My dad and Megan's dad always did them together, as my dad LOVED fireworks, and he passed his love for them down to Megan's dad.

One year, my dad was no longer there to do them anymore. He'd passed away. Yet, the fireworks party continued on. We do them in memory of him every year now. The first one we did without him, Uncle Mark (Megan's Dad) said a few things about my dad before we started. And, in the fireworks that night, my brother caught a picture that made me so emotional and gave my goosebumps. In the fireworks was the word "Eric", my dad's name, written in what looked like his own handwriting.

This year, I got to thinking about how there are windows in Heaven. I believe my dad watches the fireworks from above each year, meaning he gets the greatest view of all! Lucky duck! And I know that this year, as he looked down at the fireworks, he was saying, "You did good, Mark."