July 3, 1998 Versus July 3, 2024

On July 3, 1998, I was a a single mother of six children, ages two through fifteen.

My neighbor, a single mom of two little girls, wanted to walk from our houses in Marycrest subdivision down Jefferson Street to meet one of her friends, and then over to the Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park Theatre, approximately two and a half miles.

It was one of the first, if not THE first, Independence Day celebrations at the park. But all I remember was feeling exhausted through and through.

I was getting up seven days a week at two o'clock in the morning to deliver newspapers. Six months into the job, my body and and my life still hadn't adjusted to those hours. I was tired; I was poor, and I remember sitting at the top of the hill at Bicentennial Park with the kids, unable to buy them anything to eat or drink and feeling utterly defeated.

We still had to walk back after the fireworks. And I, who'd been on my feet since two a.m., still had to get back up at two a.m.

I wish future me could have shown up and reassured me these dark days were temporary, that the efforts would translate into a brighter future for the kids, actual life for me, and how the family, some extended family, and local artists would come together to create a literary world called the BryonySeries.

I wish future me could know that standing on Cass Street Bridge and watching the fireworks each year would become a cherished family tradition for us.

Last year, our family asked if we could vend at the event. The park said yes and we turned our tent into a miniature carnival-type experience.

This year, BryonySeries is a sponsor of Bicentennial Park's Independence Day celebration. 

And we are back with an expanded tent, more games, more giveaways, gifts with purchases, and books, Ribbit-Ribbits, and other items for purchase.

The writing critique group I helped found and co-lead - WriteOn Joliet - is developing  really nice relationship with Bicentennial Park. Several WriteOn members will also be present tomorrow night with their own table/booth/tent, ready to share their writing wares with a reading world.

And we will be giving away twenty copies of "Cheetah Stories" to the first twenty people at our booth, compliments of New Lenox Dental.

Most of all, we will be celebrating freedom.

Won't you please come join us?