We will remember…
There was an American Flag flying from the back of my motorcycle this morning as I rode down the highway, to spend the day working with some Special Ed kids and some wonderful aides. The occasion was 9/11, another of those days that “will live in infamy.”
When I arrived at the school, the flag was placed at half staff in remembrance of all of the folks who gave their lives that day in 2001. I thought about the United States, the melting pot that it has always been, and the bold experiment in democracy that it continues to be.
I walked with a little boy, whose parents had come from “elsewhere,” as have most of the ancestors of people in the United States. The little boy loves to watch the American Flag, and today was no exception, except that the flag was flying at half staff, and even easier for him to see.
I talked with a woman who had come to the U.S. from Vietnam, by way of France. We talked about the wisdom of Europeans, who have learned that human beings require more than work and corporate citizenship to thrive. Europeans have learned through two world wars (and many others) fought on their own soils that wars should be avoided, but NOT at any cost. We also talked about our love of living in the United States, and of the freedom that it offers.
There are almost no generalizations that you can make about the people of the United States – we come from EVERYWHERE. People came (and continue to come) to the United States for many reasons, and continue to bring the richness of their own cultures with them.
On this 9/11, let us remember the families of those killed and remember those injured on that day. Let us remember all of those who have given their lives or have been injured as a consequence of that day, and others who still risk their lives abroad.
Let us especially remember, as the small flag on the window of my other vehicle states, that “Freedom Is Not Free.”
-Bill at Cheshire Cat Photo™
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