User:Aalexan7

My Country, My Home, My Family

I was sitting on my couch, thinking about the upcoming holiday as I painted my toes a bright red and dreamed about the springs I'd be going to. Somewhere around the 3rd nail I started considering what this holiday really meant to me. How did it affect my own life? While we all hope to show our American pride, and win the recognition for the best red, white, and blue attire or pray that our barbecue doesn't go up in smoke this year; I turn over other thoughts in my head. A man in a uniform, a man I never met but have seen the picture of a thousand times hanging in my parents living room, my grandfather. A brother graduating army basic training in 100 degree weather who would later wear another uniform as a deputy in the town where I grew up. Friends that I only stay in contact with through social media who are traveling over the world to make a difference in others lives in numerous ways. Again, I ask myself, so what does Independence Day mean to me? To me it means remembering all the people who worked together, side by side, men and women, young and old, for a cause. Their bathing suits and t-shirts didn't have to be the American flag because the flag was sewn into their hearts and their actions. This day reminds me that freedom isn't bought, but earned. So many people gave their lives and still do to this day, because they believe that as a country we can be one. A nation that stops bickering over taxes, health care, gun laws, drugs, marriage, and the list that continues on forever, but instead comes together and does what is right! Not what is easy for today, or tomorrow, or what will benefit our needs for this month only, but what is undeniably right. This day remind me that while I want to spend it with my friends and family, that every man, women, and child is my family. That I should take the time to acknowledge them and serve them and treat them as the human beings they are, not the human beings I judge them for. Whether it be a police officer, a soldier, a fire fighter, a tax collector, a garbage man, a chef, a fry cook at the nearest fast food stand, or a child who is cutting grass for their first job or who is learning his/her abcs. I need to put them first, just as people did before me to better the country that I live in. The country that I love and believe can not only be great, but beautiful in every curve and corner. I hope to spend my 4th of July with people I love, with smiles, sun, and good food; but I will remember those who are no longer here, those who are without food, or someone who is without those they love next to their side. I will remember these things on the 4th and all of the other 364 days in the year because I know that this is my country, my home, my family.... and I will always believe in and fight for my family. God Bless

-Amanda Alexander FL Teacher, WV Mountaineer