Independent Children

My children were raised to be independent, contributing, and hopefully happy members of society. I never wanted them to be dependent on any person, including us because sooner or later, our time here will end. 

There is one problem with making them so independent. We never see them. I miss them. I miss the oldest silly, overtly childlike attitude of having fun. I miss the second child’s empathic views on people and the life around them and her slightly outside-the-box interpretations of it.  I miss the third child’s aspiration to try everything and master many. 

Now they live in cities across the US and nowhere near us. That is good I suppose. It is different from many of my foreign co-workers. They try to leave America at least once a year and go visit their parents in their country of origin. Even those with parents here in America will go back and visit once every 3 years or so. The family system for them is just… different. It is more about family than it is about independence. 

I watched a documentary named “Happy” which discusses the science of happiness. It is still a fairly new science and the company I work at helped pioneer the science. One of the main things common among all of the “happy” people was family and friends. Now I am not saying people without either aren’t happy, I am saying the studies show that time with family and friends help. 

I have to wonder if my kids are happy. 


At the end of this month, I am flying to Las Vegas to help my little sister move to Chicago. This makes me thrilled to no end. In previous posts you may have noticed that I found my birth family. My sister and I are so much alike, Andi thought we should be studied. 47 years of never knowing each other and Andi sat there and battered her with questions like “do you drink coffee” and “favorite food”. It was comical to see how much in line on everything we were. The fact we are the only two who still don’t know who our father is also helps the sibling bond. 

I am thrilled to finally have the chance to know my sister. I am extremely thankful for finally meeting my own family. All of them have expanded my own life and made me happier. I look forward to every meeting with them. 

This brings me to my point (as I almost always have one), visit your family. Independence is a great thing to help protect yourself, but if you are not happy, what is the point? 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Rare Political Statement...Illegal Immigrants

This is a long post. However, it addresses BOTH sides of the immigration issue. The actual bill as it was received in the Senate from the House. http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_bills&docid=f:h4437rfs.txt.pdf In a nutshell, here is what the bill provides (ref: Wikipedia ): · Requires up to 700 miles (1100 km) of fence along the US-Mexican border at points with the highest number of immigrant deaths. (House Amendment 648, authored by Duncan Hunter ) · Requires the federal government to take custody of illegal aliens detained by local authorities. This would end the practice of "catch and release", where federal officials sometimes instruct local law enforcement to release detained illegal aliens because resources to prosecute them are not available. It also reimburses local agencies in the 29 counties along the border for costs related to detaining illegal aliens. (Section 607) ·
Read more

What is it About Shoes?

I just have to know. What is it about shoes? I own five pairs of shoes and I can tell you where they are located at any given point in time. Each of them has a purpose. I have a black pair of tie-up shoes used for work and only work. In fact, they stay in my locker at work. The second pair of shoes are basically a backup for the first pair. They are slip on Dexter loafers in black and brown. Multifunctional and works with nearly every outfit. Third are my Nike Air Monarchs. I use these for nearly everything casual including my daily trip to work. After arriving at work, I put on the shoes mentioned first. Next are the mowing sneakers. They are plain white New Balance and were the predecessor to the Monarchs. I use them when I am mowing. They are green. Lastly are my bowling shoes. Dexter bowling shoes. They cannot be worn outside of a bowling alley, so they stay in my bowling bag (lately without any usage at all). This brings me to my point (as I almost always have one). Why in the wor
Read more

Moving on and moving out

I have made an executive decision in my life today. MomofJenMatt is right about a very sensitive issue and I have been running it through my mind for most of the night. I am strongly against the support of child pornography and to be honest, Xanga could be considered as contributing to the distribution of child pornography. Therefore, this is my last post with Xanga. I am moving to http://www.blogger.com/ . Blogger.com is tied to/owned by Google. It is a little more complicated to use, but I figure I will get used to it. This is my new blog site: http://n8ivwarrior.blogspot.com/ I welcome you to join me, although anyone can read and comment on my blog. You do not need to be a member. I hereby resign the Viewer's Choice to LarsThunder. Thank you for viewing and good luck to you all.
Read more