Friday, August 19, 2016

America...You Had Me At 7...And Can Still Make Me Cry

                                                                 

From the time I was just a young child I've loved this country.  I remember being mesmerized when I opened one of those now ancient elementary history books, and looking at lovely lithographs of the first American settlements.  And, from earliest memory those founding fathers seem to leap off the page for me.  I could pick up the scent of Washington's saddle leather, imagine riding shotgun as Jefferson's coach made its way from Monticello to Philadelphia, imagine crickets chirping as Jefferson sat alone in his boarding house room and wrote the Declaration of Independence.  

I would turn to a page in that old text, and sit and stare at a surveyor's map, showing colonial engineers laying out the first post roads...followed to a tee from the old Indian trails, even then centuries old.

And it has been more than sixty years since the teacher hauled in a Bell & Howell projector into the classroom and show us a filmed re-enactment of Francis Scott Key writing the Star Spangled Banner as he waited in hopeful prayer throughout that dark night outside Fort McHenry...hoping that our flag would still be flying when dawn came.  I was most glad that the blinds were drawn back there in that classroom...because I had tears in my eyes and wanted no one to see them.

                                                   

And, as I got older, and learned more about my country, I grew to love her even more.  And, even now, some 60 years later, I am more than ever convinced that God indeed "Blessed America".  When Washington's troops were all but defeated, facing annihilation on the fields of Manhattan, a miraculous fog descended over the island, allowing Washington's forces to retreat to that Jersey shore...and live to fight...and win..on a later day...against the most powerful nation on earth, with forces that outnumbered ours ten to one.

And, on the 24th of August, 202 years ago, during the War of 1812, British forces marched into Washington and set our nation's capitol afire.  They set fire to our capitol and the White House and every government building they could torch.  And somehow, miraculously, a once in a century tornado fell from the skies, and rain that was surely God's tears put out those fires.  The storm was so mighty it upended British cannons, then moved eastward, destroy much of the British Navy's fleet that brought them here.  

Then, half a century later, our creator brought us another Abraham, this one named Lincoln...a man who would serve as our father and spiritual leader...and our conscience at a time when we were fighting over the very essence of what freedom really means.

We don't get enough 'Lincolns'...we tend to get a great President every fifty years or so.  The next one came with funny glasses and a walrus mustache, with the name of Theodore Roosevelt.  He smashed the robber barons, created our national parks, won a Nobel Peace Prize, even as he uttered the mantra "Walk Tall But Carry A Big Stick".

Yes, we've had some great national leaders.  But it has been the magnificence of our people most responsible for our greatness...the kind of people that De Tocqueville wrote about two hundred years ago..."these Americans who wear ambition on their sleeves but covet no man's wealth and success...a people as friendly as man can know...as reflective of the value of personal liberty as any man could hope for".  

I'm worried about our beautiful country...so long blessed by God.  I fear the miracles will disappear, fading over the horizon like a lost sun.  But, if anything,  I love her even more....just as a sick child garners the most most worry from a loving parent.  

America had me at 7 years old, and she has me now...and she can still make me cry.

8 comments:

Jeff H. said...

Wonderful writing! I grew up in Pennsylvania surrounded by history at every turn. We relocated to AZ when I was 15, and I've felt like I'm in a foreign land ever since. Could be worse, I could be in Florida.

Frank R. Krzesowiak said...

Wonderful article. Thank you Scribe. It's what makes things even so much more frustrating, watching one's beloved Country torn apart by people who don't share our love of it. God had a purpose for creating America. It was to keep the world safe. People like Hitler, Mussolini and the Soviet Bloc nations would have run rough shod over the whole world. Obama, Clinton, Liberals in general don't understand the importance of this Country and the sacrifices it's made. Every time I drive by a Military Cemetery, I am reminded of those sacrifices. Maybe Obama should take a look at all those Crosses and Stars of David to remind him of who we are and the importance of our existence. Mistakes? Yes. We've made a few. But in exchange for the world not speaking German or Russian, I'd say we're entitle to a mistake or two.

A Modest Scribler said...

Thanks, Jeff...thanks, Frank..for taking the time to read and comment.

Brian Kalifornia said...

Good read Scribe, makes us "older" guys yearn for yesteryear. We still read your writings, just a little tough to respond on your glowing writings about Killary and bad mouthing Trump. Trump is not our first choice like we have all said many times, buts he's what we have. How do you know, maybe Trump could be our knight in shining armor, who knows. Everyone was optimistic about the Turd obomo, and true to form he let us down. Let's give Trump a chance, hopefully he does the right thing for America. Killary will fuck us at every chance!

A Modest Scribler said...

Brian, and thanks for taking the time to comment. As to our differences about Trump, well, all I can say is that my Trump Tauntings will likely end soon. I'm probably going to end my thrice weekly blogs very, very soon. Just working on a way to say goodbye. I'll still post periodically but have pretty much said all I need to say about just everything and will no longer post on a set schedule. But thanks for all the years of following this blog.

Frank R. Krzesowiak said...

Brian. Glad to see not everyone's braindead. Handing the Country to a Thief, Liar, and Traitor because no one knows what Trump will do it insane. We know what she will do. Steal the Country blind, Executive actions galore and more wars. I'll take the unknown, thank you. At least there's a chance we'll survive a Trump Presidency.

Unknown said...

Keep the faith young man, this country will find a way to right its ship, even if the ones piloting it seem to be drunk. Have a great weekend!

A Modest Scribler said...

Thanks, Trevor....my best to you as well.