Elizabeth: The reason for the season.

So, here we are, on the cusp of another 4th of July.
My husband is a (legal!) immigrant from England and he has a theory.
He believes that a great deal of the time, folks who immigrate to this country feel more patriotism than those who were born and raised here. He is certainly a case in point. That boy is a die-hard, flag waving, U.S. loving, patriot. He even served this country in the Coast Guard and felt tremendously honored to be able to do so.

July 4th is a big deal to him. We always have an American flag flying from our home, but the ante is upped for the 4th. Everyone on our street ends up congregated on our driveway listening to songs celebrating our country as an incredible display of fireworks is launched. It is quite a scene, man. He is full of pride for this country of ours. He has lived in several places–Brazil, Mexico,Wales–and he has seen, firsthand, just how incredibly fortunate we are to have this amazing gift called the United States.

He may be on to something. I talk to friends and family and everyone is happy to have an extra day off, a pool party to attend or a fireworks display to watch, but it seems no one stops to really reflect on what this day in July means for all of us and our freedom.

We have become such a divisive nation. It’s kind of sad, really. We all have our own opinions, which is fine, but where did this undercurrent of anger come from? Has it always been this bad? It is hard these days for people to simply discuss differing points of view without the conversation escalating into an argument. Is it just that we feel so passionate about ‘our side’ that we must so vehemently defend it?

I think it may be a case of too much information. We know too much about what is going on now—be that bad or good, I am not sure. The media never stops—the information comes to us from every angle. We have more to be divisive about, I suppose.

This weekend, all of those arguments should be put aside. We need to join together as Americans, not Republicans or Democrats or liberals or conservatives—just Americans.
Let us all celebrate as my husband, Simon does. Take a few moments to be thankful for all we have here—regardless of who is in charge. We are all in this together, and I can’t think of a place we would rather be tomorrow than in the best damn country in the world.