Mom and I go on vacation every year for Independence Day.
We go to celebrate independence, but not our country's; ours. We left Howard County on July 3rd 2005. My mom left her boyfriend of 15 years. I left my stepdad. She left her house, her gardens, her apple trees. I left my friends - my best friends. We left our comfort zones.
After 15 years, we were finally free. We were starting over in Perry Hall in a new house, new community, and most of all a new normal. It was the right decision. The necessary decision. I never thought that finding my voice in college would lead to the ultimate break-up for my former family. But I think it was what my mom needed to help her find her voice.
Independence Day will always have a huge, personal, meaning to us. I can't imagine a better place to celebrate than Smith Mountain Lake.
