Independence Day

Today is the 4th of July.  All the fireworks, patriotism and family.  I love it all. So thankful to be living in the land of the free.

I got my first taste of freedom when I moved out of my parents home.  I was about 19 and wanting to make my own rules.  It was the scariest and most liberating moment of my life.  Scary, because I did it without telling my father and moved out when he was at work.  I didn't even have the balls to tell him face to face so I did it in a letter because writing was kinda my thing.  I wrote an amazing, "Dear John," letter to my dad.

That Sunday afternoon, I packed up my Tiffany box blue, Ford Contour to it's max capacity and made the trek about 30 minutes outside of town to my uncle's 10 acre property where I would be living with my favorite cousin, Angela.  (Shhh, don't tell my other cousins.)  Miss Daisy and I turned up the tunes, put the pedal to the metal and raced off to freedom.  (sidebar:  Miss Daisy was my car's name because she was a manual transmission and for the first few days I didn't know how to drive her so my mother had to take me places.  If my friends wanted to go any where I'd have to ask if my mom could drive and it was totally lame.)  Anyway, I don't think scary is the right word to describe my feelings at the time.  More like petrified with a side order of nervous diarrhea.  I was going to be on my own.  Alone, in the woods, on 10 acres with a 21 year old with a shot gun.

The first few nights were horrible.  Angela worked overnight at the local grocery store as the overnight manager and I was on my dad's shit list for moving out the way I did, so going home to sleep was out of the question.  Instead, I played the "what was that?" game with every rustling leaf, hooting owl and howling wind sound I heard.  God forbid, the motion lights turned on.  My heart would race and I'd cry in the corner of my room!  I once threatened a raccoon with a can of soup.  "Hello??  Who's out there?  Go away now!  I have cream of mushroom and I know how to use it!"

I only felt safe when Angela was home.  She was so brave and not scared of anything.  Except scorpions.  I remember this one time we were some how both in the bathroom at the same time and on the wall above the door was a huge, I mean ginormous 2 inch scorpion.  We were so frozen in fear and needed an exit strategy.  How were we going to out smart the beast that was threatening our lives?  Light bulb moment:  Let's attack that mofo with rubbing alcohol!!  But how?  A-ha!  Water guns!  Genius!!  We both loaded our weapons, wedged ourself into the one person standing shower and unloaded rounds and rounds of isopropyl alcohol on the enemy.  He didn't go down without a fight but when he did, we cheered and laughed our way out of the bathroom.

Another memorable moment in becoming "independent" was the first time we had a severe thunderstorm warning in the area during the middle of the night.  The thunder shook the little house and the rain sounded like bricks hitting the tin roof.  I, in a state of panic, ran to Angela's room and said, "Can I sleep with you?  I'm scared!"  She rolled her eyes and said, "I guess." in her usual way.  LOL  Oh the crazy times we had in that little cabin.

People are right when they say, "growing up ain't easy!"  Paying bills, watching how much water and electricity use and gasping at the grocery bill is just a small piece of the puzzle.  It's those pieces combined with making lasting memories, spending time with the people you love and finding yourself somewhere in the mix is what it's all about.   Cherish your family time.  Laugh often and always be eternally grateful for the freedoms we've been given.  We have so much to be thankful for even if it doesn't seem like it at the moment.  You may be in debt, or unhappy with your body, looking for love or just trying to figure it all out.  Celebrate what you do have, take a good look around you and take a deep breathe.  It's all gonna be alright.  

Have a wonderful day.  Happy 4th!!