I was honored again to read from the Declaration of Independence at the start of the Roland Park 4th of July parade.
Unlike years past, there was no sound system this morning. Before I read from the Declaration, I said:
Thomas Jefferson did not have a microphone in 1776. Neither did his colleagues who, in Ben Franklin’s phrase, hung together instead of hanging separately. They had the power of Jefferson’s words.
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At lunchtime, I was waiting to be seated at Wicked Sisters in Hampden. One of the other people in line recognized me.
He had served as a page in Annapolis. He was a senior at City College then; he’s completed his junior year at Harvard.
“The best response I heard during floor debate was yours,” he said. “Someone on the other side quoted Yogi Berra, and you replied by quoting him as well.”
“I don’t remember it specifically,” I told him, “but my colleague could have said, ‘It’s not over until it’s over,’ and I said, ‘It gets late early.’”
Happy 4th!
