Solveig Werner

I am not sure if you know this, but for 3 years of my life, I lived in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Not only did I live close to a very historical city in the US, no I also lived close to Valley Forge national park. Our teachers at school underlined how lucky we were, as at least when it came to American history, we didn’t have a hard time imagining the places mentioned in the books, we knew them! {and for those we didn’t know, we went to on field trips (Williamsburg, Gettysburg…)}. 

So here is my little memory of the 4th of July 2003:

12 years ago my family went to downtown Philadelphia for the 4th of July parade, it was the last one we attend before we headed back to Europe. It was a hot day (I guess the similarity in the weather helps my memory come back), I was a teen, thinking about impressing and what not….

My sister was wearing American flags in her hair, the tiny ones we (probably) once bought at the Betsy Ross house. Her hairdo caught the attention of an intern working for the Philadelphia Inquire, she asked if it were ok to take my sister’s picture, and took note of her name. In the next edition of the Inquire, on the page dedicated to the 4th of July parade, there was my sister. It was a big picture, her head taken from the back so everyone could see her hair decorated with flags, all of the other photographs were small. And well we were all proud, a girl German in the US about to leave for France was the image of Philadelphia’s Independence day in 2003.

Happy 4th of July! ~ Solveig