Happy Independence Day, Daddy

And to the rest of you too. Thank your favorite soldier today for giving us the chance to celebrate our independence for the 232nd year in a row.
I'm looking forward to taking Cee to the 4th of July fireworks and parades in a couple years, once she's old enough to enjoy it and not be scared of the fireworks. I'm also looking forward to explaining to her that her daddy is one of the brave soldiers (I hate the word "hero", so I don't use it) who helps keep our country safe.
The LT has been in the Army for almost 11 years and so has a little more than 9 to go before he can retire with a pension. He's had 2 deployments, neither of which involved children. At least, not where they were old enough to realize what was happening. But I'm a little nervous about when he gets deployed again. Because we'll have Cee, who will most certainly be old enough to realize that Daddy's gone, even if she doesn't really understand it. She realizes when he's gone now. And we'll probably have a 2nd child by that time, too. I know tons of moms have done this before me, and unfortunately, tons will do it after me, too.
I do believe that our soldiers are keeping our country safe. It's hard when they're overseas, but I can't even imagine what it would be like to have a war fought here, at home. I like knowing that when we go to bed at night, our little home is safe, or at least as safe as it can be. It must be hard raising kids in a place where bombs go off and foreign soldiers, or not foreign soldiers, can just come up to your house and search it.
Ugh. Too much gloom and doom for a happy holiday. Enjoy your fireworks and picnics. And pray for our soldiers, that we can celebrate for 232 years more.