Family, Friends, and Freedom

As I sit at my computer the evening before the day we celebrate our country's independence, I find myself feeling extra blessed to be living the life I do. My baby sleeps soundly in his crib upstairs, I spent the day with friends and their children, my husband is the most wonderful man in the world and I have the freedom to celebrate all these things.

As you gather with your own friends and family tomorrow, take a moment to be thankful for our country, its heroes and for what our Flag stands.

In honor of the holiday, I share a poem I wrote in 2002 on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks. I was working in downtown DC only a few blocks from the Whitehouse where I often walked during lunch or after work.

September 10, 2002
8:46 pm

I walk
following the sound of a drum circle--
Three activists exercising their right as an American:
"End all War, Free Palestine, Stop Nuclear Testing!"
Their protests set in tne to a beat different
than that of my heart.
My destination rises before me
through fountains, through flowers, through trees:
The White House--
a vision that has brought many to tears, to their knees.
A home, a symbol, not just for one family, for many,
for a nation.
A mounted officer stands proudly by his horse,
offers to take a picture of a family visiting for the first time.
A news crew stands at attention,
waiting for a moment, for a story to share
with the world.

But none of these images
holds as much importance as those flashing
through my mind, flickering
just behind the surface of my eyses, ensuring
I remember
a year ago, the 11th of September
As if I could forget two planes exploding
into two towers triumphant to the sun;
As if I could forget a wound in the wall of the Pentagon;
As if I could forget a field in Pennsylvania;
As if I could forget the firefighters, fallen Heroes;
As if I could forget the Red--Hardiness and Valor;
the White--Purity and Innocence;
the Blue--Vigilance, Perseverence, and Justice;
As if I could forget I am American.