I grew up with a bunch of uncles who tended to know no bounds........... like dropping bulldogs (and once in a while a cherry bomb or two) into the back seat of the car to shake up the occupants, or seeing who could hold a string of lit crackers the longest............

So, some would say I had more than a little experience with fireworks.............at an early age.

Then I got married and had kids.

One night, at the community fireworks display at the park, an aerial bomb went into the crowd, instead of  up into the sky for all to see and go oohhhh and aaaahhhh.

Two of my boys------- 4 and 9---------- were "over there", about 30 yards from us..............with some friends, whose boys were buddies of my kids. 

The bomb landed and went off right where the kids were.

About ten feet from them.

Fortunately for them, so they were shielded from the blast...............the bomb landed in the stomach of the  sister of the boys with whom my boys were with.................about 8-10 years old.

Take a minute and think about what probably would go thru your mind, seeing the smoke from the descending bomb, and seeing the flash, hearing the explosion..............knowing that your kids were right "there".

As I ran over to the spot...............felt like it took two hours................the pictures of what I knew I was about to find are still as vivid today as they were at that time.  Fortunately for our family.............the pictures were not correct............wrong kid............but the picture that was painted was accurate.

The little girl lasted about two days and died.

 
I can't watch sparklers to this day without looking for an escape route.

Just be careful..............not trying to be a wet blanket.............crap happens.............but..............crap does happen.