
As the great Bill Pullman once said in Independence Day:
And should we win the day, the fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day the world declared in one voice:
'We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to survive! Today we celebrate our Independence Day!'
We would be saying that if that movie was real, but for the moment that right is reserved for our American friends.
The fourth of July is the day for all American's to show how truly proud they are of their country and they do this in many fun and creative ways.
BBQ's, parties, concerts - you name it. But no matter what how American's choose to celebrate, they must be dressed appropriately.
That means anything remotely resembling the starts and stripes goes, but as iconic as that flag is, it can be easily mistaken.
Spare a thought then for Dale Cheesman's grandmother who has been inadvertently showing her fondness for the nation of Panama on July 4 for the last 25 years, but has only just been brought to their attention thanks to their participation in the World Cup.
My grandma has worn the same shirt with red, white, blue, and stars to celebrate the 4th of July for more than 25 y… https://t.co/nWiK2m0GAE— DÆ (@DÆ) 1530559137
Here's Nana in 2002 with the shirt for proof https://t.co/rIFYBW5Cvf— DÆ (@DÆ) 1530638321
We can easily see why she would be confused, after all, the shirt is red, white and blue and features stars and stripes.
It's also very fetching and if we had a shirt like that we would definitely wear it whenever we got the chance.
After Dale, from Houston, Texas, posted the tweet it quickly went viral and she received kind words from Panamanians' inviting her to the country.
@dalecheesman4 🤣🤣🤣...lovely story bro.! Send your gm regards from Panama. She is more than welcome to visit (make s… https://t.co/HbZtuv7qWF— Chicho Ortega (@Chicho Ortega) 1530590801
Speaking to BBC News, Dale explained how his grandma reacted to the news:
We were on a family trip celebrating the 4 July weekend early because it's on a Wednesday this year.
We showed my grandma at dinner.
She's not happy with the picture. She says she didn't have much makeup on but I think she looks cute.
Dale did confirm that she will continue to wear the shirt as "it's a tradition".
If anything I might buy the whole family Panama shirts to wear on 4 July.
Not sure about you but for some reason, we can't get this song out of our heads.
HT BBC