Are you proud to be an American?

With all honesty, i can say I am Proud to be an American. I love that my husband is a soldier and fights for our freedom. Even though he has to be away from us WAY too much! He's doing it so that terrorists won't take over our country and to help those countries who have been under terroristic rule for so long to become free. It drives me insane when people say this war is all about oil. Get a newspaper, read up on things people, it has nothing to do with oil. Better yet, talk to a soldier, get the real story on what's going on over there, the media tells you only what they want to tell you. Unfortunately though that country does control a large portion of the crude oil so we get punished for everything by having high gas prices. Prices though that while a little ridiculous, i'll still pay knowing what my husband is doing. Knowing all the GOOD things he did while he was in Iraq. Knowing he helped those people in that village on the other side of the world and didn't take a single life while doing it. I'm even more proud when i think back and remember that my Dad did the same during his time, my Grandpa did the same in his time, many of my uncles and cousins have done the same. Our country has a LONG history of going to war to protect our freedoms and to HELP not hurt those in other countries who are being oppressed. And yet we still have those who feel that our country should just mind it's own business and stop the fighting....fighting that we did NOT start! But was forced upon us. Yes, our country has it's own troubles. Recession sends everything and everyone into a tail spin. We have drug problems and health problems. We have bad things that happen and are part of our every day lives. But we are still free, not under someone else's thumb all day. We can go to school, even if we are female. We can have a job of any kind, as long as we are qualified for it! We can go shopping, out to eat, fishing, hunting, pretty well anything we want to do anytime we want to do it. And we can worship freely, any religion we choose, any time we choose. Women....we can walk outside in shorts and tank tops, without our faces covered. We can kick our feet up on a table while having a conversation with others because showing someone the soles of our feet is not insulting. We are just relaxing while having a chat. Nothing at all wrong with that! I love the freedom of having wonderful neighbors that i can invite over for a bbq on a whim. I love having a wonderful husband that i can freely and openly walk around with while holding his hand. I love having two daughters that i can teach about our nation and our freedoms and i can openly teach them about God and love and all the things they need to know. I can take them out in public and enjoy having kids. We can play in parks and go swimming and doing lots of fun things. and i can teach them that women in other countries can't do these things. So we are doubly blessed to be American AND women! So on this Independence day, enjoy your bbq, your hot dogs and burgers, your friends, your family, and remember that you have all these things because of the soldiers who were willing to fight so far from their families to keep our country free. When you hear The Star Spangled Banner and you look at the flag waving in the breeze don't be afraid to shed a tear or two. It's perfectly ok and you won't be the only one....i can promise you!