Typical

I am hiding from my family in our basement.  I can hear my son racing around the house as my husband attempts to corner and question him about dinner.  "Is he hungry?  Would he like applesauce or turkey?"  This is our typical post trip routine.  The saturation of travel togetherness seeps in until I feel itchy - almost sick.  My husband is more understanding and much more accommodating than I could ever be and I relish the solitude offered by our basement.

Today we drove six hours through wooded countryside returning from a weekend trip.  As we arrived in D.C our son sleeping in the back I felt the moment almost iconic.  Our capitol a combination of skyscrapers and monuments juxtaposed against the natural glory of the Potomac River seemed alive with patriotism.  Red, white and blue clad citizens were gathering on grassy medians awaiting fireworks.  JAC awoke moments before our block and excitedly exclaimed, "My Streeeeeet!"

We spent the weekend knee deep in a stream catching crawdads, covered in dust from a tractor pull.  We fell asleep listening to backyard fireworks and the rumble of motorcycles cruising past our open windows.  This was the fourth of July weekend on a small town street.

The Gettysburg Battlefield marked the mid point of our return trip.  As we cruised by this hallowed ground the radio debated the growing divide in our country.  Immigrant families, AARP members and angry youth all debating taxes and anxiously protesting.  Commentators offered dire examples of differences too vast to be overcome and a country unwilling to compromise.  I couldn't help but think that not so many years ago differences were marked in battlefield positions.  The argument was more personal than taxes but instead the heartbreak of death.  Our country survived this chasm of dispute seemingly impossible to forgive by making deliberate choices to build something greater than the loss.

Today is our birthday.  It is shared by all Americans and is a day of unity.  Whether it is marked in our capitol with fireworks, or by  iconic road trips, or small town tractor pulls, we all stand on common ground today.  Our differences might be huge but we have survived battlefields of disagreements with determined forgiveness.  As we share in patriotic celebration, whatever street you are from, whatever your typical routine might be - today we can all embrace a history built in blood shed for a cause but also the daily decisions to forgive.