Happy Belated Birthday America!
Everyone loves the 4th of July! It’s America’s birthday – how can you not? 4th of July was extra exciting for me this year, as I was a participant in the Fairfield 4th of July Parade riding in a beautiful, bright red Corvette as Ms. Vacaville! It’s fun to feel like a local celebrity for the day and the support of the community along the route. This particular parade made my heart full to see the diversity of the crowd; all ages, nationalities, and backgrounds were in attendance to come together and celebrate the wonderful country (*putting aside current political challenges for the day) we have the opportunity to live in.
I look forward to these appearances for a couple of reasons. Call me a girly girl, but having a reason to get all glammed up is kind of awesome. As an adult, I have very few reasons to wear sparkly gaudy jewelry, fake eyelashes, and fancy dresses. I’ll take what I can get and have a good time with it! On a more serious note, it serves as a healthy boost to my self-confidence to be able to put myself together after the physical changes my body has been through from cancer. It’s not been so long since I was wearing a wig and extra eyeliner to disguise my mostly gone lashes. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I am now a Beauty Queen!
Also, it’s wonderful to see the other Solano County Queens. There are 13 of us total and there is really a sisterhood that builds over the course of the year reign between the Queens. They’re a great group of girls and women, each with interesting experiences, passions, and community service involvement that is always great to catch up on (and take a few pics, of course).
The Solano County Queens act as ambassadors for the Solano County communities throughout the year and this parade is one of our primary events. I take my role as an ambassador seriously and it’s important to me to be warm and engaging, even if it’s from 10 feet away while I’m riding in a vehicle. I try my best to make eye contact with every group along the route and make sure they know I am acknowledging them specifically. The reaction of children is particularly priceless. Some are shy, but most are very excited to see a Queen and wave enthusiastically. Their smiles and excitement are contagious and it’s nice to be able to bring a positive experience to someone else’s day.
Happy 4th of July everyone! I hope you had a wonderful day celebrating ‘Murica, as well. Please feel free to let me know how you spent the day in the comments!