An Insane View on Patriotism... or is it?

Independence Day... it brings to mind a number of things.  

(none of which is this, but I LOVED this picture)

 

Mostly it's a lot of flag waving yahoo's drinking too much beer in the heat, eating way too much All American Apple Pie, trying to blow themselves up all in the name of patriotism.  Now me, I consider myself a patriot and as a child this was one of my all time favorite holidays. As a young girl, I can remember dressing up in red, white, and blue, roller skates on my feet, flags in hand while I waved my pigtails at passersby in front of the firework stand. True story. I love my country and I never had any qualms about expressing it.  I listened to patriotic music from a young age (thank you John Phillip Sousa and George M. Cohan) and even now I cannot sit while listening to the Star Spangled Banner. To this day, I still tear up every time I hear "God Bless the USA" even though I've heard the song so many times it would make the average person puke, but I can't help it.  Deep seated within me is an overwhelming pride of country, of the extreme sacrifices of those that have died to preserve the ideals and freedoms of this amazing place we call home. 

Over the years, my patriotism has been tested.  As I grow older, understand the world around me more, I can see the changes in this country and I've grown jaded and angry.  But then one day it hit me.  It's not my country that I'm angry at.  The very foundations that this country was built upon are still there, but what in the hell has happened to our government?

Now I don't care what side of the political coin you fall on, this isn't about Democrats versus Republicans, this isn't about Black or White, this isn't about rich versus poor.  This is simply about the way we, as "the people" of this great country, have let our government quit working for us and I, for one, have had enough.  We, as a nation, have become so obsessed with "ME" that we've forgotten what it means to be a "WE."  We have, to paraphrase from Star Trek, have forgotten that the good of the many, must outweigh the good of the one. We have become so obsessed with the newest gadget or our five minutes of fame that we have forgotten that there is a bigger world out there and that we have a direct impact on it. 

Some would call it treason, but I firmly believe that this country's government needs an enema shoved so far up it's proverbial butt that the fall out from it will leave us all shaking and exhausted from the fall out, so to speak.  We have let our nations leaders become so corrupt that we almost promote it.  We have forgotten that these people work for us and instead have become "sheeple" that just follow the status quo and shove our faces back into our iPhones and forget to look at the world around us and ask, "why?"  It's time to say no.  It's time to question why.  It's way past time to hold these people accountable.  It's not enough anymore to have to vote the lesser of two evils.  We need some major housekeeping and we need some honest, strong, hard working people with integrity and honor speaking for us, the almighty buck be damned.

Now I agree that there have been some wonderful things that have come out of Washington over the last 50 years, but there's also been a whole boatload of crap and frankly with the way things are going, I'm scared.  I'm scared for my future, my son's future, and for my grand children's future.  We are setting ourselves up for an implosion of the unrecoverable kind.  The new kid on the block isn't as shiny and new as it used to be and on our 237th birthday, we need to take a hard look around and make some major changes.  If you find cancer, you don't shove your head in the sand and hope it'll get better... no, you cut it out!  It's the right thing to do and in my humble opinion, the founding fathers would roll over in their graves if they saw what we've let happen to this country.  And yes, it is our fault (the common people), we've let it happen.  We've voted these people into office and let them run rampant without accountability, but it's time to stop.  It's time to stop bickering amongst each other and having turf wars or suing McDonald's because your coffee is too hot.  Stand up and grow up and take responsibility for yourselves, for your children and for your government.  It's the American way.

And for me, it's not disrespectful or treasonist at all, it's simple Patriotism!

Now get out there and eat some watermelon and BBQ before it's all gone, but remember, we've work to do people, our future depends on it.

God Bless each of you and, as every politician is so fond of saying, God Bless America!

Till next we meet,
XoXo,
Moi

A Lesson in History

There have been several big moments in my life when I've watched the course of history unfold before me. The Challenger explosion, the tearing down of the Berlin wall, the horrific acts of terrorism on 9/11, the swearing in of the first black President, just to name a few. Then there are the changes in my personal history; the death of a loved one, the birth of another, changing of jobs, packing up and starting over in a new city, and the like. Each of these moments has brought forth their own emotion; sadness, terror, happiness, grief, exhilaration, and anxiety. But I never expected to have emotional response I did as history was unfolded again before my eyes.

As long as I live, I believe I will remember where I was this morning at 7:30 am, local time, when I first heard of the Supreme Court's ruling that DOMA was unconstitutional and that Prop8, here in California, did not have not legal standing. There, sitting on my bed, my wife beside me, I broke down into tears, an expression I did not expect, nor can I explain.

No matter where you fall on the separate lines of this issue, everyone does have to agree that today's ruling has a huge impact in the movement known as “Marriage Equality,” but being a lesbian, I suppose you'd have to say that it's a battle won on my “agenda.” Not true, for more than the simple reason than to think that I, or any other LGBT member of society has an agenda at all, but I digress. Am I happy about the decision? Of course I am, but not for me, more so for the rest of society that feels they need that definition.

When I fell in love with my wife, never did it even occur to me that one day I would be forced to fight for my right to marry her. When she proposed and I accepted, we simply did what “normal” people do; I bought a dress, we rented a venue, we looked for catering and cakes, discussed flower arrangements, called a pastor, checked out DJ's, hired a photographer... you know... normal stuff. It never occurred to either of us that we were doing something wrong. We never stopped to think that we were in some way “degrading” the value of “real” marriages around us. Our wedding wasn't an agenda. It wasn't a public spectacle. We weren't trying to change history. It was, quite simply, two people in love, committing themselves before friends, family, and yes, even my God (note the use of the term “Pastor” above. Yes, we had a member of the clergy officiate our ceremony), to love, honor, and support each other for the rest of our lives. OK sure, we were both relatively intelligent (her more than me) adults, so yes, we did understand that the whole “legality” of it all was, well... not recognized by our city, our state, nor our country, or any other country in the world at that time for that matter. But again I say, it was never about that, nor, in my opinion, should it ever be. I don't care if you're straight, gay, different races, or you want to marry your doorknob. Marriage is to me a declaration of love, not a contract. OK, so some of you differ in your opinion from me. That's cool. Despite what some people say, I do believe that you're completely 100% entitled to your opinion, even when it differs from my own. In the heart of it all, it doesn't matter how the government, church, or even YOU define my marriage, to my wife and I, we are married.

So today's decision doesn't change that for us. It does, however change things for the people out there that do need validation, that do need to be seen as equal, for those out there that seek permission of sorts to do what she and I did naturally. And for them, most especially the future generations of LGBT's who may grow up in a world where they're more accepted, both she and I are very happy with today's ruling.

However, it changes nothing for us personally. We're not rushing to our local courthouse to purchase a marriage certificate, we're not rushing to the altar, flowers and lace in hand, to make it “official.” She and I will continue to do what we do everyday... love each other, work together to face life's challenges, and support each other in everything that we do. Will we, one day, take the leap and make it legal? Who knows. But, for the first time in my lifetime I'm very happy to say, at least we have the choice. Ain't history grand?

Beloved, let us love one another... (1 John 4:7),

Till next time,

XoXo,

Me

A Moment to reflect on... Birthdays

Well hello there!

Since this is my official first blog and it's a birthday of sorts, I thought I'd take a moment to comment on that special day from my point of view...

With each passing of the calender year, we meet with special friends and/or family to celebrate turning another year older.  Starting from that first year of life, you go through your special day with different kinds of emotions.  Now, I don't remember my first birthday, but I do remember my sons and I'd have to say he was probably a little excited, a little paranoid and a whole lot overwhelmed by all the doo-dah.  Brightly wrapped presents, colorful balloons, lots of kids and giants (aka: adults to a baby) running around screaming, talking, and whatnot, and then there was the cake.  Talk about your underdeveloped mind doing somersaults!  As time went on, you grow into the whole party thing a bit more.  Anticipating it in a way nothing besides maybe Christmas could touch.  I know I did anyway.  Then the passage of years takes you adolescence and yeah, it's still exciting usually, but more of an affirmation that people like you and that you're accepted.  All good things and I remember them fondly, but then we get into adulthood.

Now anyone who's ever grown to see their 22nd birthday is going to agree with me here, after the 21st?  Well it's all downhill until retirement isn't it?  As a woman, the passage of years plagues me perhaps a bit different than it does a man.  Another birthday brings me closer to that unbearable title of "over the hill".  Who in the world created that slogan, I'll never know, but I'd sure in hell like to punch his face.  He's probably the same moron that came up with "have a happy period," but I digress.  Having just passed my 42nd birthday (yeah..I said 42 *shudders*), I will tell you that it shows.  Every time I look in the mirror I see every one of those 42 years written in the lines on my face, the pull of gravity on my body, and the shedding of my glorious hair.  And yeah, I could get all depressed and fight back with potions and surgery, but then I tilt my head and see it from a different angle...

Every line, every gray hair, every slight (and not so slight) imperfection tells my life's story.  Yup, I see my first heartbreak, my last failure, the worry over my wife and son, but you know... for all it's trials and tribulations, I wouldn't change a single thing about the course of my life.  Good and bad, it's mine.  I wrote it.  I inspired it.  I lived it.  And there is no one on this earth that can take it away from me.

So, I hope that next time the calender flips to your special day, I hope you take a minute not to moan about getting older, but instead, look in the mirror and read the story of your life.  I bet it's just incredible!

Till next time
XoXo,
Me

Oh and P.S. (not that I wanted this to be an afterthought, but I didn't know how to work it in anyplace else)....

A very Happy Birthday to my brother of my heart, Walter.  I'm so very glad to be a part of your journey and so happy that you mean so much to me <3  Congrats Brother, you've leveled up!  (thanks Aimee for that amazing phrase)