childhood

Let me introduce myself I’m Christine, and I live in a retirement community. We have an average age of 78, and I’m almost there! In the community I see so many issues with walking and mobility. For example, I’ve been in a hiking group with the same friends for about 15 years, and we've aged together. I’ve seen them go through an increasing number of procedures for knee replacements, hip replacements, back surgeries. When I then started to have some issues in my knee with arthritis, I thought… I don't want that.

Today, those of us in the U.S. celebrate our nationhood. On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence announced colonial freedom from Great Britain; our history has included the winning of many more freedoms since. In various and sometimes contradictory ways, our society continues to defend much cherished freedoms, and also to aspire to new levels of freedom.