Pride

As I sit here in my living room, looking out at a pile of snow in front of my windows, and know that more snow is falling. Yes they are calling for another foot+ of snow.

I was reflecting on Barack Obama's wife that for the first time in her lifetime she is proud of this country. I was thinking about this statement. She is proud because the country in her words is hungry for change. Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama just celebrated her 44th birthday in January, and this is the first time in her life she can be proud of this country. Let us look back at the time line of the country and see what she is not proud of.

1969 when she is five years old, Neil Armstrong walks on the moon, a feat that was unimaginable just ten years prior, and no other country in the world has been able to accomplish.

1970 The United States created the Environmental Protection Agency recognizing the fact we need to do something to protect the environment around us.

1973 Skylab is launched into space

1980 The Miracle On Ice. The United States Olympic Hockey beats the USSR and goes on for the Gold Medal. definitely brought a lump to my throat when they did

1981 Space Shuttle Columbia launched on its maiden voyage the first of

Every four years 1968,1972,1976,1980,1984,1988,1992,1996,2000,2004, and we are in the midst of it again there is the chance for a peaceful overthrow of power in the highest level of our government

1983 the liberation of our medical students in Grenada, an operation I was proud to have been a part of albeit a very small part.

1980-1988 the Presidency of Ronald Reagan who during which time we saw the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the breakup of the Soviet Union

1990 Hubble Space Telescope Launched and activated

Not to mention how proud I was of the people in this country in their pulling together after such disasters of such magnitude as the Oklahoma City Bombing, Katrina, The Earthquakes in California ,and the rebuilding after each one. Seeing men like Paul Dorian from my church go forth to help people reclaim their lives in Mississippi after the devastation of Katrina, not once but several times. The way the country pulled together after 9/11.

I am proud of this country every time I stand up to the playing of the national anthem. I am proud of this country every time I see a man or woman in uniform walk past me. I am proud of this country every time I see the flag flying proudly above me whether it be in my yard r any public space. I am proud of this country every time I witness a protest of one sort or anther, because we have the right to protest for whatever reason we see fit.

I am proud of this country for many reasons, at many times over my almost 50 years n this earth why can't Michelle Obama find a few reasons to be proud in her 44 years. Her husband has achieved levels of accomplishment that in prior Generations would never have been possible. Is it a perfect society we live in? No, not by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a society that is willing to grow admit its problems and look for ways to change them. Yes this is a country that has taken on change many times in its History. In 1972 after a country weary from Vietnam put a democrat White House out and put a republican one in who got us out of the war. In 1980 a country weary of "scandal" in the White House put a democrat back in power. We have been a country of change on many fronts, and I believe we will be a country of change for many years to come in the future.

Stand up and show your pride in the country in which we live. It may not be perfect but we try and we have been and always be open to change