independent spirit

As the upcoming red, white and blue holiday is nearing-I can't help but get filled with nostalgia and pride. I enjoy all of the holidays- but the Fourth of July is especially sacred to me. My family has been gathering in the same place for almost a hundred years to commemorate not only the birth of our country but also the existence of the patriarchal side of my family. We were blessed with having a woman in our family that possessed an abnormal wealth of fortitude. My great-great grandmother decided over a hundred years ago to homestead on the bank of a small inlet on the Puget Sound. As time passed on, so did the property- being placed in the hands of each subsequent generation. I grew up spending a tremendous amount of time lapping up the paradise of Vaughn Bay-I have realized that it is such a piece of me-this land is in my bones. The smells and the feeling that envelopes me when I am there is like no other. I get sad every time I have to leave and get back to the persistence of life that extends past the retreat of the Key Peninsula.

Our country is not perfect- just as people are good but not without a few blemishes, you can not be alive without making a few mistakes- it is a country that I am fiercely proud to be a citizen of. Our United States was created on firm principles no other country has dared declare or demand-that being free is a right every human is entitled to. In its pursuit for stretching its borders and influence the government encouraged its citizens to head west. The efforts of these brave people were rewarded by the gift of property. Another brilliant move by the country of stars and stripes-instantaneously its people were overwhelmed with loyalty, a sense of pride for not only its generous country but also for a land- that was now theirs. It is a land of the proud and of the free. I know this all so well- I bubble over with immense happiness of the land that my family has been blessed with. If it were not for the vision of a young and determined country and the brilliance and grit of a smart woman- we would be Vaughnless. This dirt is in me-its mine-and this country is mine- and its yours.