July 4th is a very special day in our country of the United States of America because that is our nation's birthday. We became a nation on July 4, 1776, and on that day, George Washington, our first President, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and many other important people of that period signed the Declaration of Independence, which separated us from British rule.
Ever since, we have becom our own nation, and best of all, we are a FREE nation. We can do as we say, think, or please (just as long as it is within reason), and we don't have to worry about getting into trouble or being thrown into jail.
This is why you often hear the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and other main speeches read at July 4th celebrations. This is why you hear songs like "Stars and Stripes Forever", "The Star Spangled Banner", "You're A Grand Ole Flag", and "America The Beautiful" at parades and varioius other July 4th celebrations across our great land. This is why you have parades, picnics, concerts, and fireworks, because we CAN celebrate in any way we so wish, and we can celebrate our freedom with friends and family, and even complete strangers. This is why we wear the colors red, white, and blue because that is the color of our flag, and even though we may look different, speak different, or believe in different religions, we are STILL Americans, and we can celebrate our freedom in a very special and profound way.
Too many nations in our world are NOT free; and this is why they are having problems with things like wars, famine, terrorism, and human rights abuse; and this is why people are killed or thrown into jail because in a lot of nations, you DON'T have that opportunity to speak your mind, and if you do, you can get into a lot of serious trouble or even killed. Here, at least, you can say what you want, even if it is against the President, and you don't have to worry about your life or being thrown into jail (MUCH; there IS a limit as to what you can say, but I am NOT going to go THAT far!). Sure, America DOES have a LOT of problems (illegal aliens trying to cross our borders, the sky-high cost of medicine or hospital care, people starving in our streets, gang or other types of violence where innocent people are often badly hurt or killed, or people working as much as three jobs to try to pay their bills and raise a family), but America is now my home, and I have grown to love her very much. I was born in Japan, and was adopted when I was three. I barely remember my life in Japan, but I do remember coming here to America, and it was very big and scary.
I may have been born in Japan and look Japanese with my straight, silky black hair, uptilted eyes of gold, and my yellowy skin color, but I am now a naturalized American citizen (got my citizenship when I was seven years old), and I have grown to love America and her flag with all my heart and soul.
When September 11, 2001, happened, I cried because I remember hearing about the World Trade Center Towers being hit by planes, and then falling, and many people had been killed; and I couldn't help but think about who could be so cruel as to do this horrible thing--and WHY. I couldn't understand the reasoning behind the attacks, and for a very long time, I hated people who were of the Muslim faith because I couldn't see why they hated America or her people the way they did. I eventually learned that not ALL Muslim people were terrorists, and I also had to learn to forgive them because I was a Christian, and holding anger against someone of another faith was NOT Christian; and so I had to learn how to forgive. It wasn't easy; but I eventually did it. I also have a sister who is a former Muslim (she was born in Iran), and so I had to make peace with her, too.
Seeing all the bad images on the news was bad enough, but when I heard that one of mommy's friends had been killed, I REALLY felt bad; and I cried like I had never done before. That was when I started writing, and I have done a lot of writing since then. We ALL have: Johnny, Ronee', Barbara, myself, Debby...we ALL have written stuff about September 11, 2001, and how it has affected us emotionally and physically, and it has been a godsend. We feel so much better since we have let a lot of our anger out. We will NEVER forget what happened that horrible day, but we are no longer the angry, bitter kids we once were when this first happened, and I have learned to forgive those people who practice the Muslim faith, even though a lot of them had NOTHING to do with September 11, 2001!
Now we live with terrorist threats against our nation, and our nation has been forever changed; but we are going on with our lives and are trying to live as normally as we possibly can. But we will never be the same, and now, whenever I see the Pentegon or see the changed skyline of New York City, minus the Twin Towers, I get all sad inside, and my eyes fill with tears as I think back to September 11, 2001. We are a more vigilent nation, and security is tighter now than it ever has been; it is necessary because we don't want to be caught again in a situation like September 11, 2001, and somehow, seeing all the extra military, police, or security people makes me feel so much safer and protected.
I am writing about July 4, not September 11, but July 4th celebrations are not the same anymore since this happened; and I guess in a way it is a good thing this happened because we should have been watching our borders a little more closely, and this was a wake-up call. It was a bad one, yes, but it was one that was needed. One can't be TOO careful, especially when lives are at stake or are in danger.
Anyway, I am glad that we celebrate July 4, even with all the extra security because we are STILL standing, and we are STILL free. The terrorists didn't stop us from being free, and they didn't STOP our nation from being what it is: GREAT. We are still standing tall and proud; a little bruised maybe, but we are STILL a nation, and they didn't stop our indominatible spirit or our reserve. And we will NEVER fall to terrorist threats; and they will soon learn that it is NOT nice to mess with the United States of America! :)
A short story of mine was included in an anthology of short fiction by fourteen of Port Town Publishing Company's authors. It is out of print and no longer available except as a download. Contact me at charlenetess@yahoo.com if you want it.
What began as Songs of the Angelic Gaze in the summer of 2006 continued the following year as The Bridge of Silver Wings, and developed even further two years after that into The Bridge of Silver Wings 2009. Whether readers describe it as a conversa
What began as Songs of the Angelic Gaze in the summer of 2006 continued the following year as The Bridge of Silver Wings, and developed even further two years after that into The Bridge of Silver Wings 2009. Whether readers describe it as a conversa
July 4th is a very special day in our country of the United States of America because that is our nation's birthday. We became a nation on July 4, 1776, and on that day, George Washington, our first President, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and many other important people of that period signed the Declaration of Independence, which separated us from British rule.
