A 243-Year Itch

 SPONSOR: www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-odille-cpa-17408815/ Ps 66: Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.  Ps 91: In you, my God, I place my trust.

Looks like our Motherland might be having a little 243-year-itch, you know what I’m sayin’?

What with it being just past Independence Day and all, I thought I’d give her some love…or at least, a bit of a scratch.

I really can’t blame the old girl for being a little put off with her kids these days. Yikes, I’m sorry for that Mom ‘Murica. You aren’t OLD! 

BT dubs, by most countries’ standards, she’s still a spring chicken at 243, so let’s make sure she gets the message that she’s still a gal in her prime. I digress.

From the first days when the humans started popping up all over from sea to shining sea; America has been a very strong, welcoming, and proud Mama. She’s offered fruitful harvests, unearthed lucrative treasures from deep within her, and otherwise protected and nurtured all who yearned to call her shores home.

She’s even humble, despite boasting so many amazing features -- not the least of which is being home to the Grand Canyon, a/k/a one of the seven natural wonders of the world. 

And she’s encouraged her offspring to follow her lead by being hospitable, openhearted, encouraging and tolerant to one another --- and our guests. Truth be told, the more different cultures and ethnicities she sees melting into her pot, the happier she is.

As proof, she’s always offered natural protection and an ideal setting for safe harbors both literally and figuratively.

The Native Americans, first kids on the block (who deserve our mad respect and honor) knew this. She even found a way to bridge the gap between them and those British blokes --some of whom were peaceable and driven by faith, and others who were plunderers and worse. 

Fast forward a bit to the Revolutionary War and our fearless Mum and her landscape laid the foundation we needed to stand on our own two feet and eventually establish policies and plans intended to keep her one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

But, like most children, we’ve made some bad decisions when it comes to honoring our birthplace. We didn’t listen to Mama, yo.

We’ve done unspeakable things, really. We have cut down our heads of state; littered our own soil and oceans; abused each other and her beautiful bounty. That hurts a Mother.

We’ve turned on each other, we’ve attacked one another in word, deed, and spirit --- we’ve forgotten.

We don’t remember how it’s the American way to be prosperous yet giving, to stand firm in convictions yet tranquilly co-exist, to celebrate our commonalities rather than exploit our differences.

We forget how it felt on December 8, 1941 or September 12, 2001. We forget how, in the face of our freedom and our very lives being attacked by outside forces wanting to take us down: we dug deep.

We came together. We helped and loved each other. We grabbed each others’ hands and said, “I got you.”

And Mom ‘Murica, in all her grief and agony, smiled that her children finally remembered.

So, as we wind up this Independence Day weekend, let’s forget about what divides us and focus on what unites us. Let’s stop bickering over whether Betsy Ross’s flag was meant as anything more than a tribute to our motherland; which it was and is.

Let’s listen to our Mama…and if we’re really calm and quiet, we might just hear freedom ring, Capisce?

Kimerer is a Tribune Chronicle columnist and fiercely patriotic American. Visit her red, white and blue lovin’ blog www.patriciakimerer.com

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