It’s America’s birthday today. Our Grand Old Country is 240 years old and, although she’s showing a few signs of wear and tear, this country is still one worth living in and worth being proud of. Sometimes we forget that when we’re caught up in the swirl of an insane presidential election or seeing violence rip some of our cities apart.
America’s birthday is a day of celebration. A day to remember that we fought to be free. A day of firecrackers, barbecues, and freedom. I was in Boston on the Fourth a few years ago and was reminded that it was in this holy bastion of American Freedom, people laid down their lives so that we might be free from taxation without representation and from the tyranny of a government that viewed us as a cash cow instead of a republic of equal citizens. I was reminded of this by all the shoppers I saw filling the streets of this town. The citizens who were flocking to the Gap instead of the USS Independence.
At first I was upset that people would waste our precious freedom on something as frivolous as shopping, but then I remembered that our founding fathers didn’t put restrictions on our freedom instead they granted us “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” It wasn’t life, liberty, and the pursuit of worthwhile endeavors.
Today my Fourth of July celebration was a little more muted, but I still found myself stopping to pause and think about what our founding fathers fought for. I found myself downtown Columbus at the State House. In front of the state house there is a promenade with states for all of Ohio’s counties. At each end there are cement walls with plaques. Each of the plaques has a letter home written by an Ohio Soldier who served abroad during a war.
There are letters from marines on Iwo Jima, letters from the Gulf War, letters from Germany, and letters from other conflicts. Some of the letters broke my heart, especially one signed Daddy with the initials KIA (killed in action) beside his name. Others made me angry at the atrocities that still exist in our world today. But one made me remember why I love this country.
Thank you to all the men and women who have served so that we might enjoy our life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.
Cairn by Cairn 