Today’s challenge was to exhibit a sense of patriotism. While I am “Proud to Be an American” I must admit I didn’t realize I was born south of the Mason-Dixon line until I was almost twelve year’s old. Growing up in Northern Virginia renders you somewhat cut off from the rest of the United States, oddly. So close to our nation’s capital I was raised on national politics and the “big picture” and somehow missed the boat altogether on small town americana, apple pie and lemonade stands.
Whenever I think of “Patriotism” I am reminded of elementary school and how disturbing I found the Pledge of Allegiance to be. The inclusion of the phrase “under God” in the definition of being an American has bothered me since I was old enough to know what it meant. If I am not “under” any “God” am I still American? Too big a question for me to contemplate in this time where Americans are being disallowed their religious freedoms left and right…
So, I’ll leave you with this… long before 9/11 I knew I was an American. A little girl sang “This is My Country” on television on January 28, 1986. It made me cry. We were watching the news in school. I was ten years old. Something about that simple little song and the way that little girl sang it as though it was the only thing in the world she knew to be true… it really moved me. So when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded a couple of minutes later… I was already crying.
Excitement on the side 