4th of July – Knowing I’m not alone

Decided to have a 4th of July party at my home. In my event invite I told everybody to bring their food and beverages for obvious reasons. I was hoping to at least not to be alone during the wonderful fireworks, that is clearly visible from my patio that overlooks the beautiful bay. As soon as I sent the invite I felt this happy anticipation, that I haven’t felt in a while. After what my family have been through, I needed to see some familiar faces.

The week before the party, I did everything to look my best for my friends – nails polished, new outfit, hair did. I just wanted to look healthy as much as I could. Of course I wanted to look pretty as well :-).

Around 60 friends showed up. What a turn out! They brought all kinds of food, drinks, deserts. It was amazing. They came setup everything. Some of them grilled burgers, hotdogs and chicken. Some of them took the little ones to the beach. The teenagers tossed football and ran around at the beach, played games, consumed all the food :D. I was sat in my chair and fed my favorite Turkish dishes and pampered all day/evening.

7 hours into the party, everybody gathered at the patio to watch the fireworks. We could see the crowd at the beach right in front of us. Then started the beautiful fireworks, not only from one side but two. We could see the Norfolk fireworks, besides the Virginia Beach fireworks. We all cheered together. It was wonderful. After the fireworks we gathered in my living room to take a group photo, which was fun.

It was around 11 and my friends proceed to clean the house. It wasn’t just picking up the trash. They washed all the dishes, vacuumed everywhere, wiped down all the surfaces, put everything back to where it was. It was amazing to watch them work in harmony. They left my home cleaner than it was before.

I had a wonderful 4th of July. There aren’t enough words to explain the gratefulness, appreciation I feel for what they collectively have done. It wasn’t throwing a good party. It was that they are there for me and I am not alone. I’ve learned, that it is me isolating them due to my pride.

Today I am in a lot of pain. I have really bad arthritis, migraine, muscle pain, pressure on my eyes, and so many other things, however I am HAPPY. Thanks to all my friends, I feel more alive today. Hurt, but alive 🙂