In A Little Biddy World

My Favorite Independence Day Memory, by Rebecca Biddy

Every year our family heads to Dahlonega for the festivities and fireworks. It’s our tradition, and it’s always a blast (pun intended).

Before we head to the drill field to find a good spot and the kids run off to make friends and play whatever game of catch or soccer is already going on, we start at Hancock Park for the live music.

Here’s where my favorite Independence Day memory took place.

It was 3 years ago, and my youngest son, Ben, was 6 years old. For a little context, reader, you must know that Ben is the youngest of three brothers, and he is absolutely fearless in every sense of the word. He’s the first to try a stunt. The one to climb the highest in every tree. And the first one who we had to take to the E.R., but that’s a story for another day.

So there we were at Hancock Park, hanging out with some friends, listening to music, when suddenly we realized we couldn’t find Ben. He wasn’t with the other kids anymore!

My husband and I immediately jumped up and started scanning the area, and it didn’t take long to spot him.

There Ben was, right in front of the stage, in front of the huge crowd of people in their lawn chairs, and he was dancing. He was, in fact, the only person dancing. And he was getting DOWN.

It was awesome.

The band spotted this lone kid up front enjoying their performance and started playing off his energy, encouraging him to keep it up. The lead singer threw him a beaded necklace!

Ben, ever the performer, whips it around in the air and threw it into the crowd. Now everyone is cheering for him.

The grin on Ben’s face will forever be etched in my mind. He was beaming from ear to ear.

I think about that day all the time. Any time I have a little worry or doubt about doing something that might look silly or embarrassing, I think about my youngest son dancing and having the time of his life in front of a crowd of strangers and not caring one bit what anyone thought.

So maybe the saying shouldn’t be “dance like no one’s watching.” Maybe the saying should be “dance like a six year old on Independence Day.”