A favorite American traditional is to light fireworks on Independence Day. Many of us find joy in hearing the zip of hissing smoke as a bottle rocket takes to the sky before crackling loudly in an echo.
The benefits of being a middle child
“I owe my life to two strokes of incredible luck,” writes Sarfraz Manzoor in his memoir. “I was not born female, and I was not the oldest son.” Manzoor discusses his life in a Pakistani immigrant family living in Luton, England. In his father’s rigid household, the first son would follow into the father’s work. The daughter would remain on her best behavior until she found a man to marry.