This Oklahoma Comeback Is What The Fourth Of July Is All About

A few days ago, a fireworks stand in Broken Arrow lost everything after an accidental fire.

It was only about a week ago that a fire broke out at a fireworks stand in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

Tent gone. Inventory gone. The entire operation wiped out in minutes.

Nobody was hurt, but the tragedy was real as we're all gearing up for the biggest Fourth of July celebration most of us will experience in this life.

The electrical issue may have taken the tent and everything inside, but fire can't stop the Oklahoma Spirit.

Older generations of Oklahomans always refer to what they call the Oklahoma Standard. When friends, family, and total strangers pitch in during times like this to help. And here we are, a week later, there's a new tent standing there full of fireworks again, built on the ashes.

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That’s Oklahoma.

We don’t quit over setbacks. We rebuild. We help each other. And when the 4th of July rolls around, we still gather together and celebrate this milestone for our country.

This year, Independence Day is more than the squabbles between us. It's more than politics, lifestyles, presidents, or all of our differences, the world and media would have us focused on.

I know I can already see some of this happening. The closer we get to July 4th, the more it feels like we're remembering we're Americans first. That we have more in common than we think, stories like this, where neighbors help someone who lost everything get back on their feet, remind us what we're capable of. One can only hope those feelings last.

Instead of letting outside influences continually define us by how different we are, even if only for the next week, let's just be Americans.

Invite your political adversaries over for the fun. Even if they don't show, extending that olive branch will do far more good than letting things between you fester. If you get an invite and don't already have plans, go. Have fun. Try to just live in a moment without bringing up your own politics, and when someone does bring up politics, don't let your own ego spoil the fun.

Change the subject.

Offer a hot dog. Talk about the heat and how humidity is the real killer. Let the kids discover the magic of a Roman candle fight. Let Dad pretend he knows what he’s doing.

Those are the memories that'll go home with you, and they'll become the stories you'll tell your grandkids about the time you celebrated America's 250th birthday. I wasn't around for America's 200th birthday in 1976, but I still hear people tell those stories like they happened yesterday.

That sure beats dwelling on the political feuds for the rest of your life, and the endless shower moments when you think up the comebacks you wished you had said. It sounds miserable.

With a week to go, if that sounds like the experience you'd like to have, make it happen.

If you're here in SWOK and ready to ring in the semiquincentennial as loud as Fort Sill when there's rain in the forecast, here's where you should start planning.

King Fireworks down in Geronimo has the good stuff. A huge selection of kid-friendly fireworks, but also the massive "Light fuse, run like heck" stuff. Shopping there isn't guesswork either. You can scan anything in the store and see a video of what it'll do.

Let's get back to being just regular, friendly neighbors. We deserve it. America deserves it.