The Spirit of ‘76

I hit the open road this week with Jesse and my nephew Clay. Since Wendy is working and my sister Mary Ellen just had surgery, it’s a great time for the three of us to be out on our own. We’ll meet up with more family at my parent’s place on the Friday – the same place I’ve been every Fourth of July since 1969. And watching and listening to the boys this morning it reminded me of the summer when I was Jesse’s age.

It was 1976, I was going into the sixth grade, and we were at the lake. I remember my Uncle Mark, who we always saw on the Fourth, told us to “remember this day because it’s the 200th birthday of the country.” Maybe it was because he was telling me something other than “get a haircut,” but I still remember him insisting that we catalog that day in our minds. And I’m glad he did. But for that exchange, I wouldn’t have that immediate connection to that day in the past.

Driving on I-94 in St. Clair County today could have been at anytime in the last 30 years; the road was under construction and Jesse and Clay were trying to get truckers to blow their horns and having great success. Somewhere along the line, they started a game called “yellow car’ where the only rule is that when you see a yellow car you get to punch everyone. It’s not complicated. But it is reminiscent of the “Slug Bug” game from our day. And of course, they wanted to eat at McDonald’s – some things never change.

And then there is the music. They may have been listening to Nickelback and Jason Mraz, on their iPods but it might as well have been Peter Frampton or Seals & Crofts on the radio. They were consumed by the music and the artists and couldn’t quite agree on some of the lyrics. They sang loud and switched songs about as often as we hit the push buttons on the old car radio. Because then as now, its music that marks the time. It gives us an instant soundtrack of our experiences that turns from breezy to bittersweet only with the long passage of time.

With gas prices at record levels; the automakers having trouble building smaller cars, and the economy in recession, I realized that we could just as easily be in the 1970s. So, I’ve decided to slip through the dimensional seam and live in a state of timelessness for awhile – at least until the weekend is over. And it will be easy to leave our worries behind if only for a few days. We can go to the pancake breakfast at the firehouse; watch some of the parade downtown and then go to see the fireworks, just like we did for the Bicentennial – and every year since.

Even though some days are better than others, in the end it’s clear that what we want now is what we’ve always wanted; a little sunshine, our favorite songs on the radio, and our loved ones in the frame. Only now, I’m the uncle. I just hope I can give these boys something worth remembering this week, even if we have to wait 30 years to find out. And come to think of it, they both need a haircut.


Fred Nahhat is Director of On-Air Fundraising and co-host of “Get Up! Get Out!”