Just days before his first birthday, my son celebrated the birth of the United States of America.
Brooks Sgroi turns 1 on July 10. That made Fort Worth’s Fourth the last of his holiday firsts — the final square on the baby calendar before we start counting his age in years instead of months.
He did not know any of that Saturday night.
Brooks Sgroi sits with his dad, Matthew Sgroi, during his first Fort Worth’s Fourth celebration July 4 at Panther Island Pavilion. Brooks turns 1 on July 10. (Courtesy | Hannah Rose)
He did not know what the fireworks meant, why families had gathered on blankets at Panther Island Pavilion or why so many around him were dressed in red, white and blue. He only knew that something loud and bright was happening above him and, for once, he was perfectly still.
Normally, Brooks is restless. He climbs over me like my stomach is Mount Rushmore. He persistently grabs at my face, my shirt, my phone, anything within reach.
But when the first pyrotechnic bursts exploded over the Trinity River — after a few startled tears that lasted only seconds — he settled into my lap and stared.
Red, white, gold and silver flickered across his deep blue eyes. His mouth stayed slightly open. Every now and then, he turned toward me, as if he wanted to check to see how I was experiencing this new spectacle he had discovered.
Brooks Sgroi takes his dad’s measure during his first Fort Worth’s Fourth celebration July 4 at Panther Island Pavilion. Brooks turns 1 on July 10. (Courtesy | Kimberly Sgroi)
I smiled at him. He smiled back, showing his four little teeth on top and the three smaller, crooked ones coming in on the bottom. Then he turned back to the sky.
Around us, Fort Worth followed his gaze.
Families sat shoulder to shoulder on the hill. Children stayed up past bedtime. Parents pointed toward the sky. Strangers became neighbors for a few minutes, all oohing and ahhing at the same flashes of light.
Nearby, Bill and Kay Ardis enjoyed the fireworks with their daughter, Angela Ardis. The couple was celebrating their 58th wedding anniversary. Angela, 53, was 2 months old when the family celebrated her first Fourth of July without much ado, at least that anyone remembered.
“She was probably at home,” Kay said, laughing, “getting diapers changed and being put to bed.”
But they do remember Angela’s fourth celebration of the Fourth. It was 1976, and the family traveled through the Northeast region of the U.S. to join the country in celebrating America’s bicentennial.
The photos from that trip, Kay said, are probably faded by now. The memory is not and was a special one for the family to savor on a night when another generation gathered in Fort Worth for America’s 250th birthday.
Their advice to me was simple: Take pictures. Write something down. Find something special to remember the day by, so Brooks can understand it — and share the memories when he is older.
By the end of the show, Brooks was rubbing his eyes.
On the drive home to north Fort Worth, as we crept through Northside traffic and eventually merged into the steady hum of Interstate 35W, Brooks fell asleep, too young to understand any of the reasons to celebrate the country he was born in.
He will soon enough.
By America’s 251st birthday, Brooks should be talking. Maybe he will have something to say about the fireworks. Maybe he will want to hear some history. Maybe, he will only ask to see the big booms again.
Either way, I’ll be sitting beside him, sharing the view and making more memories.
Brooks Sgroi watches fireworks from his dad’s lap during Fort Worth’s Fourth on July 4 at Panther Island Pavilion. (Courtesy | Kimberly Sgroi)
Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or @matthewsgroi1.
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