Why Do I Fly Flag Today?

In Honor of All Who Came Before Me and an Ideal

I tortured myself a bit, wondering whether if by flying the American Flag today, I would give viewers the mistaken notion that I am for the MAGA twisted thinking and actions. I am not.

I am for:

feeding the tired, hungry masses

opportunity for all

honoring all who lived on this land before me

ensuring that I use my voice to speak up and out against dictatorship and all the gross injustices that go along with that mindset

flying the flag that was my father’s. The Army Colonel who said, “A good soldier wants peace.”

My dad would have quite the words to say about the current administration and the people who care more about being reelected than they do about the freedom that is the ideal, the goal, the one thing no one has the right to take, strip, define in some narrow, convoluted terms, using the office to push their own ego and mask it is “American.”

This is not the first time this has happened. And of course, this very land is the land of many tribes, many nations, many people who were here long before the European slaughter and steal. It is the land of the sweat of the enslaved, due to the greed and inhumanity of others.

It is also the land of many mothers, single mothers, young mothers, old mothers, fur baby mothers, all of whom wish peace and opportunity for all.

The photo above, is of my maternal grandfather, who was an immigrant from Slovakia in the late 1800’s. I am the chunky bundle on the left in the wagon, and my sister April, the chunky bundle on the right. My dad was stationed in Korea and we, along with my mom, pregnant with our sister, were living at her parent’s home in Illinois. It was 1963. My grandmother and grandfather became Naturalized Citizens. They loved this country.

I love this Earth. I wish there were no countries and that we all just shared, knew that we are each visitors and that the flora and fauna are the original inhabitants. I love peace, kindness, possibility,and the truth-the whole truth.

Which brings us back to the formation of our country. We have not yet reached thoselofty goals set out in the Declaration of Independence. On July 4, 1776, the Planter Class still enslaved people, and the Indigenous people were being used by both the British and the Colonists to serve their own agendas.

What is our agenda? I tell you what mine is. As long as I am on this Earth, I shall breathe every breath I have in knowing that I am (as my mom informed my sisters and I from a very young age) neither above nor below anyone. I am to treat others as I wish to be treated. Give to others, not to make them beholden but to provide opportunity. Laugh, beautify with flowers, plants, smiles, food, sharing, caring and at the end of each day, be so thankful for my day and upon waking, work for this for all others.

It is the 4th of July. Let there be peace on Earth, and let it begin with me.