Reader Challenges
Declaring Independence
Describe in 50 words or fewer a time in your life when you experienced independence.
Replies (17)
Posted by
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There once was a girl who had nary a cent
Who married a filthy rich, land-owning gent
But his way was unkind
So she said, “Never mind!”
“ Keep all of your money….I’ll pay my OWN rent!”
(And she divorced him, started her own business, and lived Happily Ever After ….)Jun 27, 2011 7:17 am
by lpm511 -
Sixteen years old and slightly nervous, I pulled out of the driveway, alone in the car for the first time in my life, and experienced the headiest sense of freedom and independence. I could decide where to go, how fast to get there and what road to take - what an exhilarating feeling! Nothing has made me feel quite as independent as I did that day.
Jun 27, 2011 10:37 am
by mandolin_summer -
I had my "Under a Tuscan Sun" moment at 48. Following a very public divorce and fiscal implosion, I decided the only way to get a fresh start was to move to a new city. I sold the house, packed the car and never looked back. I found my "Tuscan sun" in Florida.
Jun 27, 2011 12:41 pm
by darcykaat -
“I’m here to give you my notice.”
Jun 27, 2011 2:30 pm
by sandraknz -
I looked around the room. My mother would not approve. The disarray, the errant pieces of clothing on the floor, the jewelry strewn across the dresser top, one shoe there, the other across the room. I smiled and turned my back on my unmade bed. Because I could.
by livinonthecrowrock -
when i was making scratch papers out of those love/hate letters, emptying the recycle bin, changing the music in the car... the day i forgave you, accepted you are gone for good, was the day i let myself be free truly and completely...
by ladybeth22 -
I’m pale and hung-over in a Rhode Island train station, preparing to cross a continent – towering, swaying above a sea of boyscouts enroute to NY. Excusing myself again, I go undo breakfast. I return with the train. Then board, find a seat, and wave goodbye. Freedom slowly decends on me.
Jun 28, 2011 9:01 am
by nordtomme -
Stepping my right foot forward, I scanned the chapter room. The podium where the sorority president led meetings. The chair where I once sat. Our letters, protruding from the wooden crest. Correction, their letters. This was never me. I was ready now to go find out who that really was.
Jun 28, 2011 9:50 am
by garudasana -
In 2007 I hiked the 2,175 mile Appalachian Trail and I did the first 2 months (more than 600 miles) alone. My boyfriend drove me to Georgia and dropped me off at the trailhead. I remember the moment after I had walked about 50 feet into the woods when looked back at him to wave goodbye. I turned back towards the woods and suddenly it hit me - I was alone, in Georgia, with nothing except what I carried on my back and more than 2000 miles of trail in front of me. It was the most incredible feeling of both fear and independence that I've ever felt.
Jun 28, 2011 1:05 pm
by buckethiker -
My mother taught me to not always ask "what would the neighbours say?". By this she presented me with freedom to find my own ways. Remembering her, I am very grateful for this gift. Now my next challenge is to pass this on to my children
Jun 28, 2011 1:19 pm
by Thusnelda -
"I love you. I love you," he cried. "I'll never do it again. You've always forgiven me before." And i quietly closed and locked the door.
by tradavis -
After my divorce, I woke up one morning and realized I could do ANYTHING I wanted! So I jumped in my car and drove to Chicago for the day. Nobody knew I had gone. It was the first time I ever felt completely independent!
Jun 28, 2011 4:49 pm
by Gingerjanmarie -
I joined the Australian Naval College in 1944 at the age of 13 and at 17 was serving on a cruiser in the West Indies. It was another four years before I returned home. I felt I was independant and, in exercising it, I made so many stupid mistakes. If only I could go back and correct them!!
by teepee -
c. 1971, my first weekly salary: $5 for tutoring camp kids in reading + math.
by TrishRussoniello -
I don't believe there is such a thing as independence. Surely it's a matter of which container makes you feel liberated.
Jul 7, 2011 5:06 am
by Step1 -
Learning to ride a bike was a very liberating experience because it enlarged my world as a child. It gave me physical freedom.
by dreamdust -
My independence is yet to come, but come it will, as surely as I am fettered now ....'who will liberate me from this body of death? Praise be to Jesus Christ...' Paul...True freedom and independence is living without temptation and sin
Aug 18, 2011 11:41 pm
by remmett11