This is my pitiful attempt at creating a collage with Picasa. I wanted to document what an amazing day we had today for Memorial Day! We started by driving all the way to Payson (half an hour each way with no traffic) to get milk, and after that I made hot dogs for the kids. My children looked at me as if I had lost my mind; they couldn’t believe we actually could eat hot dogs at home (they think hot dogs are just Costco food), and we had a very pleasant lunch out by the swing set. I had bought tickets online to see Night at the Museum 2, and the kids were super happy we got to go. Some parts of the movie were a little lame, but it was still a fun show; it made me laugh a lot and it also made me think. One of the lines from the movie that stuck with me was “Do things because you want to, not only because you have to. Have fun.” And then Amelia Earhart/Amy Adams said, “I became a pilot just for the adventure,” or something along those lines.
I had fun with my babies today, and they were great at the theater. We make quite a nice little group. My homies!
After the theater we went to get flowers for El Cangri’s preschool teacher because tomorrow is the last day of school for him. Hence the pictures of Chubbers hording the small shopping cart. She was the shopping cart tyrant; she wouldn’t let anyone touch it.
And then we came home, and I had a few minutes to reflect on this special day. When we drove by the cemetery and saw crowds of people paying tribute to their family members, I realized we don’t have any graves to visit, and I am grateful for that. At the same time I appreciate the sacrifice so many people have done and do today so that I and my family may live in a free country. In my family tree I don’t have any ancestors who have fought in any wars (Jeff’s family does), but I come from a family of immigrants who all their lives were seeking a free country where they could raise their family. I’m only third generation Argentine, and I wonder what struggles my Palestinian great-grandfather went through to make him leave his beloved country to move to a place so completely alien as Argentina must have been to him. And here I am now, a new citizen in this wonderful United States. Today, May 25th, was a holiday in Argentina too. A celebration of the first national government after breaking the chains under Spanish submission. In my two countries, Argentina and the USA, men and women fought for freedom not only at war, but day by day, trying to leave a legacy of liberty, commitment, and hard-work to the next generation.
I thank not only our troops fighting overseas, but also those men who so long ago had the vision of a land of freedom and opportunity. All across America, North and South, men dreamed and lived for a place where they could worship, live, work and progress according to the dictates of their own conscience. What a responsibility I feel to pass this legacy of accountability and leadership to my children.
And there they were, my four children, playing happily under the flag that undulated on our front yard and the white and blue above us in the sky. My two flags united on the background; what peace! Except for Dandi barking her head off, but then, I’d rather have a barking dog as background sound and not the blasting of cannons and cries of war. What blissful lives we have. Thank you brave ones! Thank you!