I love Independence Day.  I am a huge fan of the US.  I know that we have many, many flaws.  But I thank God that He placed me in this country for such a time as this.

I love fireworks.  I love the beautiful colors with patriotic music in the background.  This year, I went to see the fireworks on Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia.  After we arrived at our destination, and the fireworks started, I was enthralled.

This year, Independence Day has a greater significance to me.  This year, on Independence Day, something happened in my life that I didn’t realize until I was debriefing with my mom.  A major healing happened between me and my grandmother.

My grandmother was never your sterotypical grandmom.  We didn’t spend a lot of time with her, and frankly, she was never the warmest person to me.  I always knew that she loved me, but I never really thought that she liked me.  The backstory is that she my youngest aunt was almost 5 years old when I was born.  My grandmother was raising a kid while my mother was raising me.  As a child, I didn’t comprehend this.  I just felt rejection.

This weekend, though, I spent time with my grandmother, and we talked.  She expressed frustration because she wasn’t able to be a grandmother to me.  In that moment, 33 years of rejected and hardness that I’ve felt toward my grandmother melted.  In that moment, I understood.  God healed a relationship that was broken before I was born.

From this point forward, I will consider Independence Day the birthday of my relationship with my grandmom.  Whenever I see fireworks, I will smile and think of my grandmom.