This summer of fireworks, picnics, road trips and gatherings might be different if you are in a transition.
Our neighborhood makes it easy because we are a community. Fourth of July morning we have cupcakes, popcorn, BBQ for lunch, kids decorating their bikes with ribbon, fire trucks, chalk drawings, and a parade of red, white and blue walking the neighborhood. Each street is assigned goodies to drop off on the porch of a designated home before the celebration.
I no longer have children at home so the experience is different. I do stop by and say hello when I drop off my donation. I walk the neighborhood.
Some families decorate their dogs. In the evening we walk with our folded chairs and snacks to watch the fireworks.
Independence, freedom, choices, liberation, and not being controlled are sometimes taken for granted, especially when we are hurting due to losses or pending goodbyes or uncertainties of your future. I for sure have had sad days on the Fourth of July.
I like remembering what the family use to do. Picnics, pony rides, face painting, banners, and the smell of food on the barbeque, sided with cole slaw and pickles. I love that our neighborhood has this yearly celebration as a choice for the day and evening.
With all the challenges of today and the past ones we all have traveled due to illness, divorce, death, role shifts, moving, job loss, financial changes, and dreams that didn’t come true, I plan to make it a fun weekend and hope you find something playful to do. Start a new tradition. I know starting over again and again requires energy. If you don’t have it this weekend, curl in, watch a movie, and simply name all the freedoms you do have. It takes five minutes and might lift a dreary feeling.
Happy Fourth of July,
Natalie
natalie@emptynestsupport.com
818-763-0188
Los Angeles, CA
Natalie Caine, M.A. natalie@lifeintransition.org
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