Why I said, "YES" ... surrendering on the 4th of July

Fourth of July
July 4, 2008

Preparing for a summer road trip with my daughter, I played with the idea of our 4th of July location for months. I thought the ideal situation would be a hotel in St. Louis, MO within walking distance to the Arch. Westward Expansion. What a great symbol to celebrate Independence Day and the expansion of ourselves on this journey.

But, the hotels were booked. I checked the hotels regularly. I thought there would be cancellations and a room would open in downtown St. Louis. Nothing...

The idea of parking and crowds and traffic was not appealing to me.

I reviewed the hotels outside of St. Louis and finally, I chose a spot two days before our arrival. It was close to our destination for the next day.

I released the idea of going to see fireworks. It was hard to let this go. Since the death of my husband, I tried to organize a 4th of July fireworks adventure every year. When he was alive, this was his thing, along with the annual carnival in town. It was something we enjoyed as a family, but he always organized it. Since his death, I didn’t want to let Hannah down. Hannah was the youngest of my daughters, only 12 years old when her father died. I wanted to create the best childhood I could for her. Fireworks felt important.

We talked about it and Hannah said she didn’t care. I let it go. I surrendered. We checked into the hotel and both of us started reviewing pictures and writing blogs for our travel websites.

Around 8:30pm, I heard a pounding, a steady rhythm of noise. It sounded like someone banging on the wall next door. Finally, I looked out the window and saw fireworks. I called to Hannah and she looked out the window and saw them, too.

My heart felt like it was bursting . There were fireworks in four different locations right out the window of our hotel! I saw fireworks from downtown St. Louis and Cahokia Mounds across the river and two other places I couldn’t identify. I watched them for 10 minutes feeling the gratitude of the location I had chosen...or was I guided here by an inner inspiration after I surrendered?

With a full heart and appreciation for a moment of fireworks with my daughter, I walked outside to put something in the car. Right outside the front door of the hotel, I stopped and gasped. There were fireworks EVERYWHERE! I walked around the parking lot. We were on top of a hill and I saw four.. seven..twelve.. sixteen... over twenty different fireworks locations. Some were so close, I could hear the boom and crackle and pop. I could smell the burning of fireworks powder. We were in the middle of the most spectacular fireworks event I had ever seen.

I saw a couple sitting in lawn chairs with the trunk of their car open. They told me they live in the area and this is the best location in the St Louis area. The fireworks displays continued for over an hour!

I felt the gratitude of what it really meant to trust, let go and open to the inspiration to surrender. A 4th of July to remember!

Westward Expansion. Opening to the expansion and guidance from within mySelf.