Hi guys!
I hope that everyone had an absolutely fabulous Memorial Day Weekend, and I certainly hope yours was sunnier than my rainy one. I spent my time in Bay Saint Louis, attending festivals, dancing to bands I didn’t know while they covered songs I most certainly know, snuggling on a couch, catching as many rays as I could, and laughing among the most wonderful company. My Memorial Day Weekend was spent with friends and family and family-of-friends, and there’s something to be said about being surrounded with that much love and that much crazy. I’m just now able to sit down, chill out, and get all this down, but I’ve been contemplating this holiday all day. It’s overwhelming how tangible love can be and how inspiring it can be when you see it exemplified by people you may not even know (I’m going somewhere with this, I swear).
I spent a majority of one of my rainy weekend days snuggled up on a couch watching American Sniper. Up until now, I’ve felt totally unAmerican for not having seen it, and after watching it I could feel the entire weight of what this weekend actually means shift. This time that we spend with our families and take for granted all truly comes at a price. As an American, words like free, brave, and soldier are all words that we know, hear and use so often that they can lose their meaning, unfortunately. I hope that was not the case for you this weekend because it certainly wasn’t the case for me. Men and women, some of whom we’ve never met, spend months and years of their lives fighting for our fundamental rights– rights that we assume as citizens of America. We take for granted the right to even wear swimsuits or barbecue on the back deck. We take for granted having the freedom to go to the store alone as women or vote on a leader as men. We have so many freedoms here, and I’m so thankful and proud to be a member of the greatest country in the world.
I am free, and I know that didn’t come free. One of my favorite things about America is that there truly is pride in every single American heart. We are proud that this is our home. We are enormously proud of the ones who devote their lives to keeping this country in tact. I hope that you all realize the same thing. I am so thankful for each and every man and woman who have made those sacrifices. They sacrifice their lives and their families so that we can have life and family. We can dream here. We can love here. We can be anything, no matter who we are, and the people that make that possible deserve a million thank-yous.
xx