I am an American

I'm going to be totally serious here--no snark, no curiously inverted sentences, no hyperbole. Just honesty. If you tuned in to be amused, read the earlier posts--I'll be back with my own brand of lunacy later. Promise.

Here's the thing: I really love America. Tomorrow's the Fourth, and I know everyone and the cowboy next to them will be writing their opinions and perceptions of this country, and so it's probably a stale topic already. So what? I have emotions, and I will not be stifled! (Real quote from a real argument--you fill in the cast of characters and the scene.)

My husband, il Roberto, is not an American. (gasp!) He hails from the frozen northlands. He loves America almost as much as I do, though. Yes, he sings O, Canada on Canada Day, and cheers occasionally for the Canadian hockey team during the Olympics, but that's really just to set a good example for the kids. We met in Ukraine, outside the airport. We've done a decent amount of travelling together, in and out of the country. There have been places where I would gladly plunk my rear down and stay for a few years. He and I have talked about moving to foreign places for many years now. No luck yet. (If anyone knows of a really good job in Sweden, let us know!) But even if we did get such an amazing opportunity, we wouln't stay there forever. We couldn't. This is our home--everything else is just adventure and distraction for us.

I know it's not cool to be respectful of the Founding Fathers. I've done the reading; I've heard the scuttlebutt. They weren't perfect. Again, So What? Who's perfect? They were determined, though. And they were courageous. Who in their right mind takes on the superpower of the day and says, "Hey, you know what? You guys are a bunch of morons, and we're just going to go our own way, thank you very much." Think about it! No standing army, no navy, no centuries-old way of organizing these things, and they still did it! And they started without knowing if they would win or if they would die the next week. And they won! How incredible. And to go from there to writing the most innovative governmental document ever? WOW--were they cool. (And don't even get me started on their wives. You have no idea how much I respect Abigail Adams and Dolley Madison, and all the others, who said, "No, honey, I'll be fine taking care of everything. Just make sure you do a good job and don't catch malaria there in Philadelphia." Although, to be strictly accurate, Dolley didn't marry James Madison until after the Constitutional Convention. And John Adams helped with the Declaration of Independence, but was our ambassador to England during the summer of 1787. Just some helpful facts you may need if you're ever on Jeopardy or something.)

So here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to watch 1776--the musical (which is not at all historically accurate, but which I love anyway. I'll try to ignore the blatantly anachronistic waltzing scene), and that BYU production that we had to watch for American Heritage on the writing of the Constitution. And I'm going to shout historical facts at my kids and possibly the dog--because everyone should have a working knowledge of the country in which they reside. And I'm going to bawl my eyes out just for the sheer joy and thankfulness of getting to live here. You can join me, if you wish. There'll be space on the couch. Bring your own hanky.