Tell Me A Story: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, USA 2015

Mary Marcia
America's STORYTELLER
Telling Untold Stories in Photographs, Prose and Public Speaking

Happy Birthday, USA!

July 4, 2015

I was born about 15 minutes after midnight on July 5th, but we always celebrated my birthday on July 4th. That's when all my family: aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents all gathered for the annual 4th of July celebration.

There was always lots of food, fun, and fireworks, and of course, my birthday cake. I actually thought the entire country celebrated my birthday until I was about five years old, when I discovered it was the birth date of the United States of America.

I like sharing my birthday with my country, although it can be confusing to cake decorators. One year, the greeting on the cake my family ordered for my birthday was misspelled. It said: "Happy Birthday Merica" -- a combination of "Happy Birthday, America," and "Happy Birthday Marcia."

This year, my daughter, Faith, revived the tradition, and ordered a special cake for me that said: "Happy Birthday, Merica." I love her sense of humor!

July 4, 205, we'll be celebrating my birthday, and the birth of our country, and we'll say a prayer that if GOD's people here and around the world, will humble themselves, pray, seek His face, turn from our wicked ways, then GOD will forgive our sin, and heal our land.