God Bless America

 

Whenever I think of our country, I remember how my dad always had my siblings and me cover our hearts when our flag passed in a parade, and how reverently he did so.  My heart would always swell with the feeling of love I had for my country.  I love America!

I love our Constitution, and the Declaration of Independence in particular.  All those times that people around the world have sought refuge on our shores, and all the men and women who have sacrificed for our freedom, and our Founding Fathers and the patriots who fought in the Revolutionary War, and those who educated themselves about ideas and ideals, come into my mind when I consider our freedom.

I loved how Congress stood and sang "God Bless America" on 9/11, and how humble, yet exceedingly strong and immovable so many of my countrymen and women became.

I love how this country has stepped up and pulled together, when times have been hard in the past few years.  I love how people donated more than 600,000 dollars to a lady school bus driver who was verbally tormented by some students on her bus.

I love how we help out around the world when disaster strikes, and how quickly people were asking how they could help out or donate food and clothing, when 66 homes were burned last week in Pocatello.

I went to an Idaho Falls news station's site and read the comments - there were soooo many, I couldn't read them all, but people were offering shelter in homes, hotel rooms, shelter for animals of all kinds, flatbed trailers and trucks for use, and on and on.  It was amazing!  And I can just imagine what a fraction of the offers that was.

I love how the swimming pools are offering swimming,  free to any one, back in the Midwest and East where the temperatures are soaring.  Or how people pull others out of burning cars that are about to explode, risking  their lives, burning their hands, for total strangers.

(Megan and Celeste H., back in the day)

I love the firemen we saw last night, faces all worn and blackened from smoke, taking a break under some trees near the fire area in Pocatello (they're still fighting it and doing cleanup work).  They reminded me of pictures of Megan when she was a wildfire fighter at Fort Hall, just baking in her suit, with the fires and the heat of the days and the endless shoveling. I remember her hair falling out so much after the fires.  (Ben and Melinda and Megan used to work on fire support crews, also.)

I love the soldiers that volunteer to fight for us, and I'm so thankful that Phillip returned home safely, after fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.  He has injuries, after 3 IED hits, but his 4 -year stint is over.   Not all of his friends survived.  Maybe that was the most difficult part for him.  He doesn't want a fuss of any kind, but I have to thank him again for his service. 

I love that Grandpa Stephenson was a frogman in the Navy, and that he saw the flag go up at Iwo Jima.   He took his citizenship seriously, and set such an example for his descendants.

I am concerned about my country, not just because of the weather, the storms, heat and fires;  I'm concerned with our moral state, with how quickly we want to give away our agency and independence.  We watched The Hunger Games the other night; those people were willing to sacrifice their children for a little hope, allowing themselves to become slaves in the meantime.  I don't want to trade my freedom for a promise of security.

(This picture was taken at Grandpa Stephenson's burial) 

 I'm going to celebrate the Fourth of July this year, really celebrate, my country's birth, and that my father, an Army veteran of WW II, taught me to love and revere the U.S.A.  God Bless America!!