Almost Independent

Thoughts on Independence Day

Yesterday, my son and I drove to Collegetown to deliver some furniture and household stuff to Older Daughter. It has been an unsettling summer for her, so I am relieved on her behalf that she has found a nice apartment not far from campus for her final year on the path toward getting her master’s degree.   

Futon bed within and bicycle outside
the trusty delivery vehicle

Look at those gorgeous floors!  And it helps
to have a roommate with nice furniture.

I was so impressed with how she has learned her way around Collegetown, and with her can-do attitude in the face of adversity and some difficult decisions.  I was also relieved that she wanted to take some of her Grandma’s dishes which have been languishing uselessly in our basement. 

She is Almost Independent!

Older Daughter needed a dresser.  She knew that
 she could find some inexpensive
serviceable furniture at the Salvation Army store,
AND she knew where the store was!
Helpful Common Household Son in the photo.

I could not have delivered the furniture without my son.  To him has fallen the lot of being the person in the family who can carry heavy objects, fix broken things, reach high shelves, drive places, and tutor his younger sister.  He also constructed a delightful treasure hunt for his sister’s birthday.  He’s working five days a week this summer, and has gotten himself a job for the fall semester doing tutoring on campus. It will only be a few years before he is Almost Independent.

That younger sister is also headed that direction.  She has started driving lessons, and has actually used the accelerator!  When she questioned the need for her to learn how to drive, I told her that a driver’s license means freedom, for her and for me.  Soon she goes off to camp for two solid weeks.  She claims she will be fine, and therefore I believe it.

But still, I am the one who knows how to find things in the refrigerator.  We still pay for visits to the dentist.  And, criminy, we own the cars.  Do not forget that, children o’ mine.

Despite being Almost Independent, some people still
like to play with their food.

As these children of mine gain their independence, I hope that our family will continue, in all the right and healthy ways, to be dependent on each other, and that we will remember that the same is true of our whole society.  We just can’t make it through adversity or furniture delivery without each other.