Dear Americans,
Once again it’s time for me to write to you. I want to talk to you, as usual, about being an American.
Being an American can mean a lot of things. It means you go to MacDonald’s. You drink coffee and you eat donuts. You wear a red, white, and blue t-shirt; you celebrate the Fourth of July every year. You know the name of your president; you pay your taxes. Good enough, right?
We can get deeper than all that, can’t we? Being an American also means believing in this country and never giving up on her, though you’re fighting down in the ditches. It means being the first to stand up when the national anthem is played, and the last to sit down when it stops. It means speaking up for what’s right, even though you know that when you do, the reaction you get from others will be uncomfortable enough to make you wince.
It means, most of all, never doubting that there is still goodness in this country, and still goodness in her people. Goodness does not go extinct, though sometimes it feels as if it went into hibernation.
Let’s start realizing that infighting and squabbling amongst ourselves will only harm us. It’s not getting us anywhere, and it never will. We’ve got to come together again. It’s time we join hands and move forward with the things we agree on. The best thing we can do right now is agree on the big things and set aside our petty differences. Only then can we move forward. All the change will come from us.
But . . . you say, I’m just one person. One individual. An average American. A nobody. I don’t really count, do I?
So you’ve been told that you don’t count? That’s one of the biggest lies on the face of this earth. Don’t believe it. Of course you and I count! We count because there are millions of us; and when we stand up together, we count more than the Left wants us to. That’s the important thing to remember, the phrase that you should repeat over and over: THERE ARE MILLIONS OF US.
Hold on to your ideals. Maybe you’ll never be heard from. Maybe you’ll never be heard of. But here’s where you and I come in: We must let people know where we stand. We must bring up the issues. We must pray for America, her people, her leaders. We must vote, and know why we’ve voted that way. We must stand up in every little way we can.
So, Americans, your country’s waiting.
—N.M.
