Summer time makes me think of fireworks, picnics with juicy grilled hamburgers, stars in the sky, popsicles, fresh cut watermelon, cool desserts, families together, games...
I think it's telling that our summers kick off with a day set aside to remember & memorialize our fallen warriors - Memorial Day. Followed soon by a day set aside to honor that great symbol of ours as Americans - Flag Day - the American Flag, Old Glory, the Stars & Stripes - what a beautiful symbol of who we are as a nation. Then the fireworks on Independence Day - the Fourth of July - a day songs and lyrics are written & sung about. How wonderful a nation we live in that has all of these special days set aside to honor, to memorialize, to celebrate, to commemorate those who bled and died, those who sacrificed, those who forged the way just so we can enjoy the freedoms we do today. I am honored and I am humbled to live in this exceptional nation. I thank God for that. I hope you do as well.
I am the Flag
by Ruth Apperson Rous
I am the flag of the United
States of America
I was born on June 14, 1777 , in
Philadelphia
There the Continental Congress adopted my stars
and stripes as the national flag.
My thirteen stripes alternating red and white,
with a union of thirteen white stars in a field of blue, represented a new
constellation,
a new nation dedicated to the personal and religious liberty of
mankind.
Today fifty stars signal from my union, one for
each of the fifty sovereign states in the
greatest constitutional republic the
world has ever known.
My colors symbolize the patriotic ideals and
spiritual qualities of the citizens of my country.
My red stripes proclaim the fearless courage and
integrity of American men and boys and
the self-sacrifice and devotion of
American mothers and daughters.
My white stripes stand for liberty and equality
for all.
My blue is the blue of heaven, loyalty, and
faith.
I represent these eternal principles: liberty,
justice, and humanity.
I embody American freedom: freedom of speech,
religion, assembly, the press,
and the sanctity of the home.
I typify that indomitable spirit of
determination brought to my land by Christopher Columbus and
by all my
forefathers - the Pilgrims, Puritans, settlers at James town and Plymouth
I am as old as my nation.
I am a living symbol of my nation's law: the
Constitution of the United
States
I voice Abraham Lincoln's philosophy: "A
government of the people, by the people,for the people."
I stand guard over my nation's schools, the
seedbed of good citizenship and true patriotism.
I am displayed in every schoolroom throughout my
nation;
every schoolyard has a flag pole for my display.
Daily thousands upon thousands of boys and girls
pledge their allegiance to me and my country.
I have my own law—Public Law 829, "The Flag
Code" - which definitely states my correct use
and display for all
occasions and situations.
I have my special day, Flag Day. June 14 is set
aside to honor my birth.
Americans, I am the sacred emblem of your
country.
I symbolize your birthright, your heritage of liberty purchased with
blood and sorrow.
I am your title deed of freedom, which is yours
to enjoy and hold in trust for posterity.
If you fail to keep this sacred trust inviolate,
if I am nullified and destroyed,
you and your children will become slaves to
dictators and despots.
Eternal vigilance is your price of freedom.
As you see me silhouetted against the peaceful
skies of my country, remind yourself that
I am the flag of your country, that I
stand for what you are - no more, no less.
Guard me well, lest your freedom perish from the
earth.
Dedicate your lives to those principles for
which I stand:
"One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all."
I was created in freedom. I made my first
appearance in a battle for human liberty.
God grant that I may spend eternity in my
"land of the free and the home of the brave"
and that I shall ever be
known as "Old Glory," the flag of the United
States of America
