Happy Independence Day! This morning I walked to my hometown's downtown square, past a Confederate monument, the Ten Commandments monument, the country courthouse, a beautiful gazebo still set up from a ceremony honoring our armed forces earlier, and a large United States veterans memorial that had a new wreath on one side and my grandpa's name on the other. We had a moment of silence for those military members who have given their lives, and every hat was off and hands over hearts during the national anthem as the American and Texas flags blew In the breeze. Then I watched a small town parade with more flags than I could count waving up and down the street. My heart swelled with pride and I had to fight back tears so I didn't look crazy, but seeing those flags, the community, veterans, and current military in the parade makes me so proud to be an American. I hope everyone feels that emotion on days like today. Let's not forget that America is great, and it's up to ALL of us to keep it that way. I'm thankful for my country, my state, and my town.
Here are a few of my favorite patriotic thoughts:
"Where liberty dwells, there is my country." - Benjamin Franklin
"There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America." - Bill Clinton (I'm not sure Mr. Clinton and I would agree on what those things are, but I agree with the sentiment.)
"You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4th, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw frisbees, the potato salad get iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism." - Erma Bombeck
"You will think me transported with enthusiasm, but I am not. I am well aware of the toil, and blood, and treasure, that it will cost us to maintain this declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet, through all the gloom, I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory. I can see that the end is more than worth all the means, and that posterity will triumph in that day’s transaction, even although we should rue it, which I trust in God we shall not." - John Adams, July 3, 1776