You know, theres a lot in that.. independence.. 

I think a lot of people take things for granted.. or maybe they just dont realize the cost of it all.. what it really means to be free.

I dont think people realize how much freedom is worth until you are not free. I dont mean for being owned by anyone per say but the ability to just be. To just be you.

Im sitting here listening to my wonderful husband snoring away behind me.. kind of loud actually but all I can think is how lucky of a person I am. Given all that I have come through in life, I am SO lucky. I know that every moment of every single day. Not just because of the choices that I have as an American, as a female especially but my choices as a human being. The independence I have in myself.

I could not imagine a day when I would have to live under someone elses rule of thumb. To have someone else make choices for me, to tell me what to do, to not say the things that I want to say. I can say that because I KNOW what that feels like and I will never be that person again. I allowed someone else to degrade me, to break apart every part of me until I was just a waste of life and even for that I am lucky. I could not imagine if that was not my own choice, if I were never allowed to get out of it alive. If I could have never had the opportunity to make it on my own. To have an actual chance to make it in the world. Because I am an American female. Because of the men and women who have given me this right.

I am lucky that someone in this world, who would never even know me was willing to die so that I may be free to dream and to live any dream that I could dream. And I am extremely lucky that its not just someone, its a lot of people.

I dream of a day when the world can have what our founding fathers believed in. I was going to say that I wish we could all have what America has but we still dont have it right, we havent nearly touched upon their dreams of what this country would one day be. And even though that frustrates the hell out of me, I am still lucky. Everyone who lives here is. It may be harder for some to reach their dreams than others but everyones dreams CAN be touched here.

Theres no doubt that politics have screwed us more than its helped us lately and theres absolutely no doubt that our focuses have been on the wrong issues and need to be revised but even still, given all of our problems, we are still lucky. To be free.

The meaning of independence is the state or quality of being independent.The meaning of independent means being free from the control, guidance or influence of anything or anyone except for you. Its hard to put the feeling of freedom really into words.

I can give you many examples of freedom but I can not stress upon you the feeling of freedom. Thats something that you find within yourself. Because you never realize it until you realize how it feels to be not free.

It is a beautiful thing when you really realize the gift that has been given to us, to be free. God Bless America and the brave men and women, through all of time, who have given this to me. And the people who have helped me achieve real freedom..