The US is the melting pot of countries all over the world. My family came over on the boat through Ellis Island during the turn of the 20th century. That's almost 100 years of us (Russian/Ukrainians) as Americans.

       This is my country and I love it. I love everything about it. I love my neighbors, my friends, my family, and I love the fact that we can travel across this country and experience almost any type of terrain imaginable. If we don't find it here, we can travel to the Islands or to Alaska. In the US if we get knocked down by wrong decisions or hard times, there's always a good neighbor, church or friend here to give a helping hand until we get back on our feet. We have every type of food imaginable available in restaurants, supermarkets and in our own kitchens. At any given day we can take a ride to town and meet several people who can trace their history back to another country somewhere across the ocean or on the other side of the border. We can purchase clothes from anywhere in the US. If we miss our ancestry we can go to the Epcot center and find a street there that looks identical to, or nearby, where we launched. What a country!

       My older son grew up in Europe and California. We didn't move to GA until he was fourteen. My younger son was a year and a half when we moved here. I fell in love with Georgia almost immediately and wanted to explore the whole state and inhale the diverse culture of the south.

       While traveling to Helen we got lost and I had to stop to ask directions. I got out of the car and saw two gentlemen at the pump. I took my map and spread it open. One of the men looked at me and came over. Instead of asking how he can help he made comments about my looks.

       “Do you know the right route to Helen?”

       “Sure, are you married?”

       “Those are my children.”

       “I don’t see a ring on your finger so I guess you’re fair game.”

       “I just want to get to Helen.”

       The other man overheard the conversation and came over. When the flirty man saw him, he backed away but stayed looking on from a distance. The second man looked at the map. “I’m going that way. You can follow me.”

       That sounded perfect to me. However, the first gentleman got angry, raised his hands and backed off all the way to his car as if I had a disease.

       “I don’t want anything to do with anyone who associating with men of color.” (Those weren’t the words he used.)

       When the gentleman I followed had driven as far as he was going on the route, he stopped and directed me on. He was a professor from New York. We were both astonished by the treatment he and I received by the other fellow. I'm happy to say that was my first and last encounter here with obvious prejudice. However, that was one of my first impressions of Georgia. I was only here about a week. It was also one of my children's first impressions of GA. I was able to nip it in the bud and my children never grew up putting up boundaries because of the color of someone’s skin, or the slant in his eyes.

       We need to preserve our heritage and keep our morals in tact. Keep in mind our country is full of almost every other country. If you're not a native-American, then you or your ancestors probably came from another country, too.

       Let your children and grandchildren know early in life what a wonderful country we live in and what wonderful diversity we share. Introducing them to the historical advantage of living in a melting pot will greatly enrich their lives and prevent embarrassment for future.

       Don’t forget my novel released on November 2^nd, 2009. You can purchase through Amazon or Barnes & Nobel. Go to http://www.escapethehezbollah.com for details.