Happy birthday USA.  You are 241 years old today and you don’t look a day over 200.  A little gray around the edges but that’s just because we haven’t been doing our best lately to keep you beautiful.  Some would say we need to make you great again but I for one don’t think you ever weren’t great.  You are the most recognized country in the world and a leader in every aspect.  You are a trend setter when it comes to the definition of Democracy and an example for any emerging country that would care enough about it’s populace to protect their freedoms.

None of this came without a cost.  You have had your share of conflicts to resolve and growing pains when you learned to stretch the definitions of personal freedom.  Through it all, you have kept your poise.  Your fifty children have followed your example and each in it’s own way adds to the beauty of your legacy.  Freedom and diversity are the cornerstone of that legacy.

So what’s all this about making you great again.  Don’t take it personally when someone would imply that you had lost a step.  You still are and always will be the land of freedom and opportunity.  As such, you have always striven to offer those opportunities to all who would rise to the challenge.  And rising to the challenge has been exactly what you have done.

As your song states, from sea to shining sea you are a land of majesty and beauty.  From the mountains on your east to the peaks on your west coast, you rise majestically and scenically to the skies above.  Your plains roll rhythmically across your midsection seaming the country together with their softly flowing rivers.  You offer a vista of awe and wonder at every corner.  Your interstates keep us connected and your back roads rise up to meet us when we leave the beaten path.  Your cities afford us culture and style, while your towns and villages offer us history and Americana.

Happy 241st birthday, and with calm and sane reasoning, many many more.  You are great and no amount of rhetoric can hide that obvious truth.  Life is good and you continue to afford us the opportunity to live, love and grow, in and because of that goodness.

Let’s think about this the next time we Pledge Allegiance or sing the National Anthem.  Let’s pledge ourselves not to making you great again, but keeping you as great as you already are.  Let’s celebrate your birthday with fireworks and envision them as the birthday candles lit for you today all across your night sky.

Happy 4th of July, 2017.