Geeky Talks
The Village
Growing up, I remember the Fourth of July in Houston probably in the same way you would any other city. We had a BBQ with our neighbors. Us kids would ride our hot-wheels while the parents drank sweet tea and chatted. There would be some music piping from the window of my parent’s house and inevitably someone would start dancing in rhythmic gyrations resembling a dying catfish. These are what memories I hold and expectations I have of our Country’s birth.
The fourth is very similar to me now as an adult. This time, though, I am the one drinking the sweet tea. (Or hard cider. Come to think of it, I don’t actually know what my parents were really drinking. Sweet Tea may have meant “vodka and tea” but I’m not sure.) We have the same small town parade crowding our tiny main street. We have the same neighborhood BBQs and the same fireworks and the children riding their bikes in the street 28 years later. I live in a city nearly 2,500 miles away and nearly 25 years have passed since my small-town fourth experience in Texas, but it’s so familiar I can feel the Houston humidity and hear the trumpets blaring out of my dad’s stereo.
Tradition is, by definition, familiar.
The people I shared this fourth with remind me of my parent’s friends all those many years ago. It’s a different vantage point I have now, but the concept is the same. The saying is “it takes a village” and to me, I am honored to have women in my village whom I not only count on, but who make me stronger as a woman myself. They provide tradition, familiarity, comfort, and compassion. It is with this village we celebrated yesterday in a place I call my home. However much I sometimes wish to flee, it is comforting to have such an amazing support system here which grounds my wings as often as it provides opportunity for flight.
Jul, 05, 2010 Read the Archives 
Welcome!
17 guests here now.
Find Me
Popular Tags
Latest Tweets
-
My blue eyed daughter. Anomaly. http://t.co/NiEKDKNXcl8 hours, 51 minutes ago
-
The only sound more lovely than your children playing nicely together is the one after they go to sleep.1 day, 8 hours, 16 minutes ago
-
@ijy Jon Snow looking anything other than Jon Snow is just wrong. lol1 day, 8 hours, 18 minutes ago
Conference and Speaking Gigs
Writing Conferences
Comments
You’re so right…having people around you that you can count on in good times and in bad is so important. Sounds like you had a great day!
While you and your sister were growing up, I lived by these words: “A Mother holds her children’s hands for awhile…their hearts forever.”
“While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about.”
Happy Traditional Fourth of July.
Awww, great pics and post! Happy Independence Day!!
(I can’t believe you didn’t post any corvettes)
That’s a grand ole village you have, lucky missy.
I’m very jealous of your Village. Are you perhaps looking for someone to play the role of The Village Idiot? I’d like to apply, if so, just so I can be a part of The Village.