Happy Birth Day USA!

July 4th... Hotdogs, picnics, parades, fireworks, flags. And a memory of what it took for us to celebrate the 230th birthday of this glorious day. It took Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Coastguardsmen, Merchant Marines, Airmen, Railroad men, Teachers, and yes, even a few traitors; some to work for us, some like Benedict Arnold to work against us, but all involved in the making of the fabric that is the United States. For those who gave their lives for freedom, for those that worked tirelessly to build a country, to educate it's citizens, for those who took off knowing not where they were going, but determined to make a better life for themselves and for their families, I send a word of thanks. I thank the people that first establish the Articles of Confederation and then, realizing that we needed a more solid framework built the constitution and then immediately amended it to provide our Bill of Rights. I thank those who in the early days of our country decided that millions for defense but not a cent for tribute was the way to go. I'm grateful even for the British invasion during the War of 1812 because it showed that our nation could stand against the most powerful nation in the then known world.

I'm grateful for the Confederacy, who in trying to secede proved that we could stand against ourselves, correct the mighty wrongs and still be preserved as a Union. I'm grateful for those in the Union Army who often enlisted knowing that they would be fighting their own family members, but who believed that a Union of free men and women was more important.

I'm thankful for my Grandfather and Father who spent their lives as Soldiers so that I could be free, I'm grateful for my Grandfather who for over 60 years preached the word of Almighty God and who instilled in me a belief that my immortal soul was well worth my care and concern. I'm grateful for my child, my wife and even my two psychotic cats.

I'm grateful for Al Gore who invented the internet so that I could be a blogger and I'm most grateful for you, my readers and my friends who have supported me in this blog, and in my fight against cancer.

I'm also grateful to all my blogging friends for all the friendship, support and care that they have all provided me when I was down, when the few times I wanted to quit and reached out and they kept me going.

Most of All, I'm grateful that through no action of my own, I was born a citizen of the United States of America and that I am an active participant in this democracy. God Bless America!