Note: I’m reposting this from 2006…because I can’t figure out a way to say it better.
A moment of silence to ponder. A moment of awe as I again understand just what they have given . . . and why.
This world that we have forged . . .
Today I will celebrate by living out loud. I will leave my home . . . the property that my work and toil . . . and the sacrifices of those that defend this country . . . allow me to own. I will drive somewhere I want to, without asking anyone’s approval or getting permission to travel, to do something that’s not the slightest bit necessary and has absolutely no benefit to the state (not, by a government’s definition, productive).
I will do this because I want to. I will do this because I can. I will do this because over a long and colorful history my countrymen have stood to the mark, fought, and died to make sure that I could.
They died to make sure I could live . . . not merely survive . . . not just get by . . . not to serve the needs of the state . . . but live.
How could I do any less?
Thanks, and Godspeed.
