After my tribute to Canada, I really wanted to say something profound or touching about America. I started, then stopped many times trying to flesh out an awesome analogy about fireworks. I paused recalling childhood memories of the hot nights on the 4th of July. No string of words managed to accurately express my feelings about how American I am.
I find it hard to think about our Nation’s past without getting a little choked up. I really don’t know what it’s like to fight for my freedom. I don’t know what it’s like to risk my life for my family, my home, my beliefs; I’ve been blessed with it all. I simply cannot imagine a life full of oppression and fear or the inability to express my opinions or demand simple justice. How lucky I am to be here, in this time, to enjoy all the things in life that so many people before me and even now fight for every single day. To all those who cast aside fear, who stood with courage for what they knew was right, I can only offer my humble gratitude and highest respect.
This past 4th of July I spent the evening with friends as close as family. We watched the broadcast of the D.C. firework display. It is the same as I remember watching live on the lawn as a kid. We then blew up our own fun in the street. I am not really sure how fireworks became a staple of our Independence Day, but I know I can’t celebrate without them. Just as music brightens my soul, fireworks bring about feelings of pride, excitement, resolve and unity. No matter the time or place, that really is what America is to me.
Happy birthday, America. I love you.
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1 comment:
living in MA I've had the chance to visit a lot of the parks and monuments pertaining to the revolutionary war. Its crazy to think that those people would stand up to what was at the time the most powerful country in the world. the colonists were relatively poor, under equipped and poorly trained; surely they must have known how many of them would die. they can't have known they'd prevail, in fact I wonder if they did it thinking they'd win, or simply to stand up for what was right to them.
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