What Our 52nd Anniversary Trip Taught Me

Hello Everyone,

Memorial Day has come and gone and I’m reminded of how grateful I am to all of those who have given their lives for this country as well as those who have been willing to risk it all so that we can have the freedoms we do. I can remember when I was in high school, as the guys graduated from high school they were looking forward to an all-expense-paid trip to Vietnam. Many of them did give their life and some of them went to college just to avoid the draft.

I don’t know how many of you remember that the government held a lottery of birthdates for those registered for the draft. If yours was one of the first 100 or so your chances of being called up were very high even if you were in college. I can remember my boyfriend’s birthday was near the 200’s when the dates were called out. I watched the TV intently to see the numbers and where my boyfriend’s (who is now my husband) birthdate coincided with the likelihood that he would be called up for service even though he was in college. More than likely we were told, his number would not be called.

I know my husband was torn, in that while he wanted to serve his country, he did not want to leave me and run a high risk of being killed in Vietnam. Perhaps, that is the reason we are so grateful for the people who serve and are now serving our country. Other than my life I give to God and family, I want to devote a very strong allegiance to our country. It would be disingenuous if I didn’t recognize we have faults–lots of them. But that said, there is no other place on this earth that I would rather be.

I say all that to say that I believe the summertime is a great time to display our patriotic spirit. So our next event is so-called our “Patriotic Event,” June 9-11. And that’s next week.

I know this may sound a little “geeky” but for our 52nd wedding anniversary we went to a museum in Missouri and spent hours going through artifacts of how this country was settled. Some of it was very sad because of how people, who were already here, were treated. But I found their tenacity for life so inspiring. Their many inventions and creations were a forerunner to many things we do and have today. And because of the hardships they were facing, it made them more in-tune to who they were and the purposes for which they were created.

And while I know this newsletter is going to be long, I just hope you’ll indulge me as I tell you about what I discovered about myself and how they inspired me in their quest for life.

My grandmother always told me and my siblings that she had Indian blood in her. My father always told me never to mention it to people because the Indian she was supposedly related to was known for his brutality. But as I thought about her life, I could see the Indian blood in her genes as well as how she lived her life. She was always resourceful with making do with what she had, which was very little, but she was always dressed to the nines (whatever dressed to the nines means)in the fashions she created out of flour sacks and old curtains.

In visiting this museum, I saw that resourcefulness in so much clothing that the Indians created. The beadwork, of which they had to create each bead themselves, as well as the designs and ornamentation was incredible. And they made do with the resources which were available to them.

I found the turkey feathers in the headdresses were all placed with the utmost attention to detail. Many of the feathers were dyed to perfection with brilliant colors. If you can see the curl on the headdress, it reminds me of how I’ve always put curls in the pheasant feathers I used in florals. (Maybe I do have that Indian blood in my veins.)

If I could say what I took away from this trip is this: We are all faced with hardships and obstacles we must overcome. The test of our Character is how we will navigate these adversities. Will we give up or power on? Will we go in the strength of our God or succumb to the hardships? Will we be a part of the solution or a part of the problem?

I look at what Abraham Lincoln said in his Gettysburg address, even knowing that in the Presidential election, in the South, he didn’t receive one vote. Yet, he powered on in what he believed to be right even though so many were against him.

As we celebrate our country this summer, Let’s all try to be part of the solution to all the problems we face in this country. And then we’ll know we are fulfilling our purpose for our time here on earth and making this country an even better place.