Until we die, we try. As for the Fourth of July, we know that independence arises from the will. The will inside us is what external tyrant can take from us. It defines all the hope and pathos there is in being human. We are not guaranteed by our creator to achieve happiness, only that we have the right to pursue it.
Every rocket falls to earth, and nobody lives forever, much less happily ever after.
So when you are sitting out on that blanket Sunday night, with the explosions momentarily lighting up the brown cloud of gunpowder hanging in the air, consider what the ruckus is really about. We rise, we fall, and as long as we are able, we rise again. Against the certainty of ultimate failure, we keep hurling ourselves at our dreams. The hero is you, no matter what day you were born. Happy Fourth, everybody.