The Fourth of July, Independence Day

I have always been a patriotic person. Despite the problems this country has had to face or had to go through, I have been here pulling for her and doing my part by voting, even when I didn't believe voting actually made a difference any more.

Maybe it is because of the era and family I grew up in. My Daddy was a World War II veteran and a hero to me. He fought against one of the greatest evils I had ever read about - Hitler - and I admired him for that, even when he said he did not want my "admiration" because all he had done was been scared and had to kill people who were just like him, scared and young and just trying to do the right thing for their families. In everything he did, my Daddy was a very honest man, and he is still my hero.

Now, in looking at this country and where it is in relation to the world powers, I am still a patriot. I still admire the things we have accomplished as a nation and I am hopeful for the future of it. At the same time I admit it has problems. Big problems. But if the people stand firm and actually work for what is right and good for all citizens, then there is a good possibility things will work out just as it should.

Sometimes, when I look at the Independence Day holiday I still wonder if we are as independent as a people and a nation as we should, or could be. Still, I don't believe I would live any where else because I have the freedom to put my words onto a screen and share them with the world in relative peace and comfort that someone is not going to come and knock down my door and take me away because I said something the government didn't like.

Although I am not part of "the press" as a whole or as the world sees it, my own opinion is important to me and being able to express it is a privilege I will never take for granted. It is the independent, sometimes individual voice that rises in freedom and encourages others to be free, even in the same nation, or perhaps somewhere else. Having the ability to say what you like is important, far more important than most people of America would like to accept.

So, on behalf of all of those out there who do not say it enough: God bless America, and may our flag forever wave over the home of the brave and the land of the free.