MY COUNTRY ‘TIS OF THEE
My country ‘tis of thee
Sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing
Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrims pride
From every mountainside let freedom ring.
When I heard Aretha Franklin sing those words at the Presidential Inauguration it took me back to my childhood, and the memory of signing the National Anthem and saluting the flag every morning at the start of school. It was something we did as part of being American, part of being patriotic. We would all sing with a joy and a belief. I vividly remember the early 60’s and being mesmerized by a young Irish President from Massachusetts, John F. Kennedy. He was my hero of sorts. For some reason I could relate to him, I could relate to his story–being the captain of a sinking PT boat and not wavering from his appointed duties of staying with his ship. He was a hero, and I was into heroes. He was up there with the Apache Indian, Geronimo, who represented to me someone who fought against injustice and did it in a way that demonstrated that real men had courage to face death in the face of truth(read more)
