Not so much, according to our youngest daughter, Patty.

Maybe it was the fact that she was born the day before the 4th of the July. She heard the beeps in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit), having sucked in some amniotic fluid on her way into the world. The next night I remember laying in my hospital bed without my baby (she was in the NICU), listening to the fireworks as they exploded over the lake near the hospital. Maybe that was it.

Probably not. But there is no denying the fact that Patty hates fireworks. Always has. Or anything that screams, booms, explodes, or buzzes loudly. We took her and her siblings to see the fireworks near her first birthday. She screamed. Ralph took her to the car and shut the windows. We tried ear plugs, ear phones, etc. A few times, we parked so far away that she couldn’t hear the fireworks. That was tolerable, barely. Parades were no fun, either. Fire trucks are loud, close up. So are semi truck horns. Candy does improve things, but not much.

For a child born the day before the 4th of July, the celebration is painful.  Her sensitive hearing makes it miserable.

The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays. I love the fireworks, the parades. But Patty stays home. She sleeps downstairs near the holiday (the neighborhood fireworks whiz and pop right outside her upstairs windows).

How about you. Do you have any holidays that make you run for cover?