Olivia took her first steps on the 4th of July. I find it very fitting that as we celebrated the independence of our country, my sweet girl took her first steps towards her own independence. I'm especially grateful that Mike and I both got to witness this at the same time and that some of our family got to be a part of it too.
We spent the 4th with Mike's family this year and we had an absolute blast! Mike's mom has one brother and he and his wife live just outside of Oklahoma City so we headed up there for their annual celebration. We haven't done a ton of family get togethers with this side of Mike's family so we were really excited to be able to spend some time with them. Mike's cousins were all there with their spouses and kiddos, my MIL flew in for the occasion, and my bro- and sis-in-law drove up as well.
Mike's aunt, uncle, and cousins thought of everything! They had goodie baskets for everyone which included hand held fans, snacks, water, and toys for the kids. There was more food than any of us could eat. They made homeade ice cream and homeade root beer. They got up at 5 a.m. to secure good spots for the parade and we got to see a truly amazing fireworks show. It was an incredible celebration!
Normally for the 4th, I only have 2 requirements: a hot dog (my first favorite food, tied with birthday cake) and fireworks. July 4th is top 3 in my favorite holidays, preceded by #1 Thanksgiving (because it's a great time to reflect on all you have to be thankful for and to eat until you nearly puke) and #2 Halloween (because it's a great excuse to act silly and eat so much candy that you nearly puke). And, until this year, the 4th was my 3rd favorite because it was an excuse to watch a really cool fireworks show and eat hamburgers and hot dogs until you nearly puke. Yeah, no wonder I've always struggled with my weight...
Now, I'm not saying that I haven't appreciated the reason the 4th is celebrated. I totally get that the indepedence of the U.S. is a big deal and I have the utmost respect for the people that serve this country. It's just that I never really thought about what a really, really BIG DEAL it all is. Like most Americans, I think I've just taken being an American for granted.
This year though, my perspective was different. I'm not sure if it's because I now have a little person of my own to protect and whom I want to be able to live in a great country, free from the craziness that so many others in the world deal with on a daily basis or maybe I'm just getting more mature (Hey, it had to happen some day!). Either way, as we watched the 4th of July parade, as I saw some of our men and women who serve our country cruise by on the parade floats, and as I heard the music that pays homage to our country, I got teared up.
I looked around at my family and I just thought "We are SO fortunate." Here we were, at this wonderful parade (my first EVER 4th of July parade by the way!), enjoying the early morning, not worried about anything except how we were going to fit homeade ice cream, homeade root beer, AND Aunt Helen's famous dump cake in our bellies all at the same time. We weren't worried about bombs going off in our streets. We weren't worried about our children dying of starvation. We weren't worried about whether or not the water we were drinking was clean or whether our electricity would work when we headed back to the house to cool down.
I don't usually get on a patriotic rant. I don't have bumper stickers on my car about supporting our troops. I don't march in rallies for the political party I support. But I am so very, very proud to be an American. And I am so incredibly grateful for all of the men and women who serve this country to make it possible for me and my family to sit at a 4th of July parade and watch fireworks that night and to go to bed at night with only thoughts of how amazing the day was.
So, you know what my new favorite thing about the 4th is? It's that I get to celebrate and say thank you to all of those who have made and do make the freedom of my family possible. It's that we all take a moment to thank those who are giving their lives and their time with their families so that I can peacefully spend time with mine.
Lately there seems to be so much tension in our country and the 2012 election is already stressing me out. News reporters and commentators are always so argumentative and people say the most ugly things about each other. But that's the beauty of this country. We CAN disagree. We CAN say whatever we want about whomever we want.
But maybe on this one day, on the 4th of July, maybe we can just say THANK YOU. Regardless of which political party you support, regardless of whether or not you feel that war is just, regardless of whether or not you believe we should have troops deployed anywhere. The fact is, we have people serving us all over this world so that we can be here, spouting our political opinions all over the tv, internet, and radio. We have people serving us so that we can be at parades and watch fireworks and eat until we can't anymore.
When I think of all of the people I personally know who have helped and do help make my freedom here possible, I realize that this post is more than just 2 weeks late. It's about 30 years late. I owe all of you thanks for the 30 amazing years I've been able to spend here.
So, THANK YOU to everyone who has served and is out there serving this amazing, amazing country. Thank you for your time, your dedication, your belief that we are something worth serving for. Thank you for allowing me to spend time laughing and clapping as my daughter took her first steps on the birthday of our nation. Thank you to your families for believing as well and for sacrificing their own desires.
And thank you to Aunt Helen and Uncle Tom for opening up your home to us this 4th of July. Thank you for feeding us until we nearly popped! We hope we get invited again next year!
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| Our first 4th of July parade! |
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