Happy July 1st, everyone..*S* I absolutely love this picture. Of course I would not hesitate to take the toy gun out of his hand. But there is such an innocence to this child and his golden, I can't help but smile. This is what our troops are fight for, what we here in the United States of America have wanted all the way back to 1776. Taxing tea may have been the fuse, but the issues were much larger ones. I'm proud to be an American. Not always proud of things that our country does. Not always happy with the leadership and the supposed equal rights. But comparing that to other country's situations, I feel we have very little to complain about, and at least we are free to complain.
I was raised in a time when the flag spoke for us, when our loyalty wasn't questioned, when, for the most part, we were the "good guys". Our world, our lives, our culture keeps changing. And that is a good thing, a river that doesn't move is stagnant. No one promised that all the changes would be "good" or that we would like them. As it has been since the pilgrims landed on these golden shores, we have to fight the fight, cope with the struggle, and accept the fact that it all keeps changing. Ten years ago, as I faced my first cornea transplant, if you had told me that in less than 10 years, I'd be chatting with Tonya in Egypt, or Judy in Virginia, or Cher in Portland, OR, or Fiona in England....I would have shook my head and wondered if you were sniffing some wacky weed. I would have accepted your idea as a good one, but had doubt that it would be casually an everyday thing...not just a long distance phone call. Everything keeps changing. We can't have it both ways, like it "was" and like it "is". We can't just take the parts we like and make the rest of it go away. I know we try to do that, but the earth keeps spinning and time moves forward whether or not we are ready. I think we need to be greatful for the brave souls that have brought us this far, and as kind as possible concerning what we don't like or don't understand in today's world. So my American friends, and also those Americans abroad, lets wave our flags just a bit on Tuesday, and think about what being an American means.