Most of us weren’t around for the events we celebrate, throughout our yearly calendar. All but our youngest remember where we got Patriot’s Day. Some of our oldest remember Martin Luther King, or World War II. But most of our holidays are celebrations, or honored observances, of things that occurred long before we were born, dating as far back as the birth of Christ. And yet we still honor them.
Today is the most national of those days. The United States of America, though very different than it was in 1776, turns 245 years old today.
None of us asked for whatever form America was in when it was laid at our feet. But we received it anyway, and we were taught what to do with it. And with patriotic spirit, we’ve learned, and we’ve tried to do the best we could with what we were given, hoping to hand over a better version to the ones who come after.
Though most of us were born right from the heart of our country, we have different ideas of what that means, no doubt. But whether you’re fighting for more of that change, or fighting to keep it more or less the same, I hope you’re fighting for something you truly love. And I hope you know that love, through acceptance, triumphs despite all flaws.
Happy Fourth from The Mauve Report
(and Ray Charles)