Independence

Whitney (7:50 am PST, Tuesday July 5, 2022)

The night before the 4th as I was tucking Pepper in she cried. “I just want to be a normal kid. I want to go to a parade and be outside. I miss the sun.”

We chatted about and contemplated a few things. Sadness and disappoint are important feelings. They are real and demand to be felt. We try to acknowledge them, feel them and pin point where the feeling is coming from. As soon as we can do those three steps we are free. Free to move on from that feeling and find a new one that we choose. I encouraged her not to rush the process. 

You can bet it didn’t take her long. We came up with an idea. That idea was night swimming with glow sticks. We talked about how this is temporary (being out of the sun) and maybe next year will bring different circumstances! 

Night swimming turned out to be more fun than we thought. The fireworks were on both sides of the pool and so fun to watch! So grateful for a neighbor letting us borrow their pool. 

I may not have gotten an annual picture where we are dressed head to toe in red white & blue. But we got a picture, of all of us. What a true blessing it is to have ALL of us still here. I even ventured out and made my moms traditional cheesecake, with Kade’s help.  God Bless the USA!!