Simple and Free

Our Fourth of July was simple and low key.  Who am I kidding?  Our whole week has
been simple and low key!  I should just save myself the time and energy from typing
that sentence into every future post from now until Christmas: we are in a simple and low
key mode right now, this family.  Shawn is recovering well from his surgery: his pain level
is minimal, his energy level is up, and his spirits are high.  His biggest challenge is being
patient enough to get the rest he needs to recover from this surgery.  He can't use his arm
for several weeks: now lifting, pulling, or pushing.  No picking up little girls or helping with
his usual household duties.  Just rest and recovery, that is his only job right now.  A job
easier said than done for a man who prides himself in working and staying active, a man
who just recently became completely independent since his accident and is now having
to, reluctantly, accept help again.  He's learning to relax, though, with a lot of reminding
from this house full of women.  My mother in law is graciously staying with us for the next
two weeks to help us and I have thanked God at least a hundred times over the last few days
for all of her help.  There's nothing better than a mother's touch around your home, the
spirit of a nurturing soul to heal a son in need.

We spent our day in the pool, playing outside, and chasing bubbles.  I forgot all about the
red, white, and blue ensembles I picked up for the girls a few weeks back.  I never got
around to making the patriotic dessert I found on Pinterest, either.  I did get to take a long
nap, though.  I was able to sit at the kitchen table with my husband and his mother and
talk deep into the hot summer afternoon about life and everything in between.  And I took
a good moment to thank my lucky stars for this amazing life we live, for our freedom,
our health, the opportunities we have been given and the immeasurable amount of love
that surrounds us.  When I was in the Navy, my favorite place to sit and think was on the
very back part of the ship, the fantail as it is known in nautical speak.  There the American
flag waved proudly from sunrise to sunset, a symbol of who we were and what we stood for.
I thought of that spot today, the hours and months and years I spent looking out into the
open ocean, off the coast of one country or another, a part of something so much larger
than myself.  God bless America and all that we are blessed with here.