I hope that you are looking forward to celebrating the birthday of our nation. I hope that those of you with small children will tell them what it’s all about. It’s not just about cookouts and fireworks. It’s a time to remember and to give thanks that we are blessed to be Americans.
I’m proud to be an American. I was born on Flag Day, and my blood runs red, white and blue.
When I see that glorious flag wave or hear “The Star-Spangled Banner” or “American the Beautiful,” I reach for the Kleenex or secure the nearest water pail. Words like independence, liberty and freedom make my blood stir. Reading the Federalist Papers, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and speeches made by our Founding Fathers makes the hair on my arms stand up and salute. I know I’m pretty weird.
I’m proud to be an American and celebrate those courageous citizens who came before me. I celebrate those who traveled across the country in covered wagons, beating all the odds to settle our prairies, clear the land and establish their dreams. I marvel at those who established our cities, built factories and established law and order in communities so that we might live as we do today. I am humbled by those courageous Americans who paid the ultimate price for my freedom. We all know that freedom has never been free, and ours was bought with the blood of others. I am thankful for those who came to our shores full of hope and ambition and, against all odds, made a better life for themselves and their families in the name of freedom.
I am proud to be an American and to know that our country is the envy of the world and that God has blessed us beyond measure. When I look at the Statue of Liberty and read, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” I am reminded of those who peered upon her symbolism as they arrived on our shore and wept with joy at the hopefulness and pride they felt.
I am proud to be an American, plain and simple, and I need no hyphenated description. As Americans, we come in all colors. We have no official religion. We have no rulers. Our freedom is our most precious commodity — and our birthright.
We still have brave Americans standing on our shores, ready to defend those freedoms. These are true American heroes. We can’t all be heroes. Some of us have to sit alongside on the curb and clap and wave as they go by; otherwise, they may never know how much we appreciate them. Today, especially, I honor each of these heroes.
I am proud to be an American and to celebrate America’s uniqueness and greatness. I believe there are few handicaps that faith and freedom can’t overcome. America is a land of unparalleled opportunity.
I’m proud to be an American even though we’re not perfect, and our society needs lots of improvements. There is no utopia on Earth. We have to wait for Heaven to experience that joy, but America is pretty darn close. Compared to all other societies on Earth, even with all her warts, America is still the greatest country in the world. To borrow a line from a famous song, “There ain’t no doubt I love this land. God Bless the USA.”
Sen. Joyce Krawiec has represented Forsyth County and the 31st District in the North Carolina Senate since 2014. She lives in Kernersville.
