Many, possibly even most, times the phrase, “taken for granted”, is used in a negative way. I like to use it in a positive way. When I can take something for granted it shows, in my mind, that the situation is a very secure one, one I can rely upon.
There are many people in the past who have NOT taken their rights for granted. Many of those people have spent a lot of their time, energy (and sometimes their lives) fighting for those things that I can take for granted now. Those who fought the American Revolution, those who worked to change child labor laws, those who wouldn’t rest until women had the vote, and so many more… so many.
At this time in my life, there are two groups of people who come directly to mind when I think of things that I take for granted in my current daily life.
Feminists: this is a huge one for me. I have been very conscious, for quite a long time that I do not have to fight for equality with males. Women chose to oppose their husbands, chose to risk remarks from their female friends, and were made to feel like less. I don’t have to read books about my rights as a female. I don’t have to listen to feminists explain to me what life could be like. I don’t have to take less pay because I’m not the man of the house. I don’t have to focus on the fact that I am a female, just like I don’t focus on the fact that I am a person with blue eyes or a person who is right-handed. I can take it for granted that I am simply a person, who happens to be female. To those who planted the seed and those who marched in DC, to all the women who fought for their equalities within the confines of their own homes, thank you.
Homeschoolers of the 70s and 80s: thank you, thank you. You paved the way for my life today. You hid inside the house for years, keeping your children away from prying eyes. You wrote your own curriculum. You stuck to your beliefs that your children belonged at home. I have endless choices in curriculum. My child has options of many workshops, classes offered from a variety of places. We don’t have to close our curtains during the day. We go out into the world without a shred of fear. We live in a country where most people have least heard of homeschooling, even if they don’t know much about it. The image of denim jumper moms and socially awkward kids are almost completely a thing of the past. I thank every parent who chose homeschooling and every child who lived that life. You have all made our right to homeschool something that we take for granted on a daily basis. Thank you for paving the way.
I appreciate all I have in my life. There are so many people have made and who continue to make me, here and now, possible (including my husband who leaves the house 5 days a week to earn a paycheck, which enables my chosen role as a SAHM – something I do not take for granted!!). I pause, occasionally, to think, to breath and sometimes to audibly say, thank you, but mostly, I take you all for granted. I am safe enough to do so.
by Melissa Robb