By Joel Howard

A few years ago, I asked of a friend’s son what his plans were for Independence Day. This young man, who was about twenty years old, got a look of bewilderment on his face. I thought perhaps he hadn’t heard part of my question.

“You know, the Fourth…,” I said in a leading manner, hoping I was enunciating clearly enough.

“Oh, July Fourth,” he replied. He went no further, as if waiting for me to acknowledge some mistake on my part. I could not let it pass.

“July Fourth is Independence Day. It commemorates America’s freedom from England. It celebrates our emergence as an independent country free of foreign rule.”

“Oh, sure. I think I remember hearing that when I was little or something. Like our redcoats thrashed the bad guys. Or something like that.”

“Sure, or something like that,” I said.

There our conversation ended. His attention to my initial question had died in my ensuing history lesson. What kid likes a lecture? Besides, I hadn’t the heart to listen to any more revisionist tales from this young man. If he’d gone on to place Abe Lincoln crossing the Delaware River, it would simply hurt my brain too much (not to mention my heart).

And so this exchange called to mind a salient point for this time of year: I could not recall the last time I heard the term “Independence Day”.

The Fourth of July? Sure. July fourth? All the time.  Or so often, simply, “the Fourth”.

No matter the name, the picnic and fireworks still shine with familial togetherness and relaxation. Yet as our national day, Independence Day’s meaning has been eroded to a weary footnote for an entire generation. Not unlike the headstones of fallen revolutionaries, one can easily tire of trying to make out what has in some ways become illegible.

Dusty muskets and silenced cannons cannot hold their own against wireless connectivity and streaming videos. With such thoughts to serve as my rallying cry, I went in search of those locals who exemplify independence.

In this issue you will read about local neighbors actively making a difference, striving to make life better both here and in far-flung regions around the globe. While not fraught with the intrigue of war, these locals have within them that same revolutionary passion to see a better future. It is history in the offing, Norfolk style.