Happy Memorial Day! May 30, 2016

Happy Memorial Day!  Thank you veterans for your service.  We would not enjoy the freedoms we do today without your sacrifice and your commitment to our country.  

During this journey I have been filled with facts and images of the fight our forefathers embarked on and won to earn our freedom.  From George Washington and Thomas Jefferson to Abraham Lincoln and General Grant, from the North and the South to the East and West, we have a great country founded on laudable principles and truths.  We aren't perfect, but knowing that every day we can wake up without tyranny, that we can speak our mind without fear of prosecution, that we can travel without restriction, practice the religion of our choice, marry whomever we love, and vote for the candidates we want to hold office, yes we are a great nation.  There is no doubt in my mind.

Today, I visited the birthplace of our country.  There I was, standing in the same room where the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence, looking at the actual chair George Washington sat in while he led his fellow patriots, and learning that the Preamble to the Constitution was written by a man just 24 years old, Gouverneur (actual first name - pronounced goveneer) Morris. I was filled with pride.

Next to me were people from other countries speaking languages unfamiliar to me.  They came here to learn about our history just as I am.  They were taking pictures just like me.  We are so fortunate that we had such brave, intelligent, honorable men and women to forge the birth of our nation.  We Are a Great Country.

Freedom doesn't come without a price.  We have a duty to the men and women who fought for our country to vote.  We have a responsibility to learn about the candidates and know where they stand on the issues.  Do you know that only 42% of the population voted in the 2014 mid-term elections?  You would think that with all that is at stake, more people would want their chance participate in democracy.

Independence Hall in Philadelphia is the place where our freedom began.  As Americans we can honor the men and women who sacrificed so much to protect us by doing what we can do to show our gratitude for those who paid the ultimate price.