For far too many Americans, the Fourth of July will be justanother holiday. Soccer moms will fly little American flags ontheir minivans, bikers will tie on American flag bandanas andchildren with red, white and blue face paint will run wild withsparklers. “Saving Private Ryan” will undoubtedly play on some TVchannel sometime this weekend.

People will be in the spirit, but come Monday it will be over,and Independence Day will just be another paid holiday a yearaway.

But for Connie Davis, 49, a Lincoln County transplant who isapproximately 8,600 miles away from her home in the Philippines,her ninth Fourth of July experience in the United States will be arebirth of the occasion. During the previous eight independencecelebrations, Davis was in the country on borrowed time.

But Friday, for the first time she will join in with 300 millionother U.S. residents as a true blue American – her first Fourth ofJuly since earning citizenship in May.

“The United States is a home for me,” Davis said. “I’m grateful Itook the test and grateful I passed the test. I am thankful I am inthe U.S. – I call it a promised land, like God promised toAbraham.”

Davis’ past eight Independence Days were celebrated for the sake ofcelebration, she said, but Friday will be official, the apex oftrails, rewards and more trials during her journey to citizenship.Coming out to the country in the New Sight community – where Davissaid she has one neighbor – from Manila, a city of more than 14million, was a challenging adjustment.

It got even harder last year when Davis’ husband, Gary Davis,passed away.

“After my husband died and I was left by myself, there was a lot ofthinking I had to do,” she said. “Some of my friends in thePhilippines said there’s no way I could stay in the U.S. – I don’thave any family here. But my husband’s family and my church familytold me I didn’t have to make a drastic decision.”

Davis was not a U.S. citizen when her husband died last year. Shewas tied to the country by him, and when he was taken, the decisionof stay or leave became very real. Her husband had always wantedher take the test, she said, but the imposing importance of theexamination had made her shy away for years.

She had to dig down deep.

“If I went back to the Philippines, I would feel like a strangeragain,” Davis said. “I would have to start from the beginning againlike when I moved to Mississippi.”

Davis did not arrive in the country for the heck of it – herhusband went to Manila to claim her as his bride in 1998. They metonline, at Match.com, and became 8,000-mile friends. Both wereBaptists – Gary preached at East Howard Baptist Church in Biloxi -and both were looking for someone.

As their online friendship grew, Davis said she invited her futurehusband to her best friend’s wedding in Manila. The invitation wasextended, more or less, in jest.

“We thought we were just playing games,” she said. “I never thoughtan Internet friend from Brookhaven would come to the Philippines.Before I knew it, he had e-mailed me and said he was coming.”

Davis said her mother was wary of the visit. But Gary Davis wasdead serious.

“He sent an e-mail to my mother and told her he wanted to get toknow me and my family,” she said. “He already had a plan to dosomething – not just meet me the first time, but to propose to me.He had already made the decision to win the approval of my family,because it is custom in the Philippines to win the family beforeyou ask for the hand in marriage.”

Gary Davis arrived and proposed, and Connie Davis said yes. Thecouple attempted to plan a wedding in Manila, but due to U.S.immigration laws, Davis said she would not be able to get to theU.S. for three or four years. Instead, she applied for a fiancévisa, waited six months and boarded a plane.

The Davises were married on May 8, 1999.

Gary Davis died on June 26, 2007, from the aftermath of a heartattack.

Davis said he had complained of chest pains throughout the weekend.It turns out he had actually had a mild heart attack on Saturday,preached at East Howard on Sunday and finally went to the hospitalMonday, after the pain forced him to leave work early at BrookhavenEquipment and visit the emergency room. Inflammation from the heartattack killed him early Tuesday morning.

Davis needed citizenship.

“I was already qualified to be a citizen,” she said. “My husbandkept telling me I needed to finish my papers and take the test, butI was afraid I would not pass.”

With encouragement from Gary Davis’ family and her own, Davisfinally applied for the citizenship test in July 2007, receivedapproval in early 2008 and reported to New Orleans for theexamination on May 14, 2008.

Her anxiety was unfounded.

“It took less than 15 minutes,” she said. “The lady who interviewedme asked me one question – what does it mean for me to be a citizenof the U.S.; to take the oath? I didn’t have time to think of ananswer, and I told her I would give my life on behalf of thiscountry.”

Davis now enjoys the full privileges of citizenship. One of herfirst acts as a citizen was to register to vote, and she plans toexercise that privilege this November.

Davis is also proud that she became a citizen the legal way.

“Some people come here illegally because the process is not easy,”she said. “I’m proud that I went and passed the test and did it inthe legal way – I can face President Bush and tell him I am proudto be part of this country.”

Freedom in the U.S. is a different kind of freedom, she said.

“In the Philippines, we have freedom, but we don’t own our house,we don’t have a car where we can go everywhere we want to,” Davissaid. “Sometimes we want to go somewhere and we can’t. Sometimes wewant to treat ourselves good and eat in a nice restaurant, but wecan’t afford it. I will be celebrating the Fourth of July with athankful heart.”

Davis said she would enjoy Independence Day with swimming, hotdogsand watermelon and an evening of fireworks – just like the rest ofthe country. She will spend her holiday time with Roena Foster, herlate husband’s sister and her only family in Brookhaven.

“We take the Fourth of July for granted most of the time, butConnie is encouraging us to really take a second look,” Fostersaid. “It’s special for us to try and see it through her eyes. Itgives you a whole different view.”

Foster said having Davis in her life has been an eye-opener as towhat the United States is all about.

“People who are new to this country appreciate the U.S. in waysthat we have taken for granted for years,” she said. “It helps usto see the full scope of things.”