Happy 4th of July everyone!! What a fun holiday!! No responsibilities, just good food, friends, fireworks, and fun! Some great friends of ours, that we haven't seen since we moved from our last post, came to visit us yesterday and we spent the day laughing, reminiscing, and talking about the future. What a GREAT day! But as this is a celebration of independence, I asked my blog pals to think about what that word means to them.
If you think about it, the origin of Independence Day is not about having no responsibilities, but the opposite. A bunch of really gutsy people breaking away from everything familiar in order to live as they believe. These days that doesn't sound so unusual, but stick me and a bunch of strangers in the middle of a remote wilderness and tell us to create a New World, and I think I might start looking around for the Survivor cameras and begging for a cell phone! As much as I like to think of myself as an independent person, I know I really am not.
Back when we were first dating, when I was still in high school, I remember telling Jason that I wouldn't marry him until I had completed college and lived independently for a while. I needed to know that I could survive on my own if I ever needed to. And I did. But you know what? Being independent is a lot more fun with someone else! I'm still very much my own person, as is he. But we like sharing our independence and helping each other to be "the best we can be"!
Now the main focus of our life together is to help our kids become happy, healthy, INDEPENDENT people. Crazy! We will spend the next 15 plus years teaching our kids that they can live without us! That is amazing to me. I know that some animals give birth and then walk away, with the baby instantly able to survive on its own. But we human animals are drastically different. I want my kids to be independent, but heck, I want them always to need their Mama!! Hopefully, their version of independence will end up the same as mine. Able to live their lives with confidence, knowledge, and opinions. Not ever afraid to be "the best they can be"!
Have a wonderful Independence Day, and remember to thank everyone that works together to give you your independence! For our part, we thank our parents and ancestors for creating strong, independent children, I thank Jason and we both thank our military friends and leaders for working for freedom, we thank our friends for enriching our lives, and we thank our kids for inspiring us to enjoy our lives and the freedoms we have!
5 comments:
We had the same idea after college. Too many of my friends are losing their spouses and not knowing if they will be able to take care of themselves. Believe me, I have 2 daughters 30 and 31, and they never stop needing their mama!
Thank your husband for his service--and you military wives are the hardest workers of them all...families like yours make this country great...Happy Independence Day!!
It is so hard letting children become independent. I think (hope) I have achieved that with mine. But believe me when they reach their majority and ask for your opinion, it is so hard not to just tell them how they should do it.
Sounds like you have a handle on that though. And being a military brat myself, you won't have any problems with the kids being independent. It is on of the things you have to learn early to be able to cope.
So much of what you wrote really resonated in me. It is sometimes scary to think of my kids growing up and not needing me. But seeing as I am 38 and still need my own mom sometimes.... *laughs* There have been namy times over the last 2 years I had called my mom not to talk, but just to hear her say Its gonna be ok.
And give hubby a hug and tell him thanks for all that he does.
You may teach your kids that they can live without you Meg. But if you spend those years building strong relationships with them they will never want to live WITHOUT you. So worth the effort.
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