Patriotism Fading

Patriotism used to run deep in my blood- in my bones. Born on the 4th of July there has always been a strong bond between me and this once Great Nation of the United States.

In years past that patriotism would stir an excitement in me as my birthday and the birthday of our independence came close. No matter what horrible things might be happening in our country or in my personal life, I looked forward to July 4th with a great deal of eagerness. The ever hopeful part of me would believe that we as a country would come together to celebrate this day and all hatred, arguments, divisions, would fall away like magic and we could begin a new. 

This year, however, that sense of excitement or hope is sorely missing.

Politics is in such a state of disarray, people are scrambling to pick up pieces and pull something together that is coherent and centered. Members of each party are turning against each other. Social media is burning up with conflicting messages, and the poor voter is left out there floundering in a sea of uncertainty.

And then there was the recent ruling by the Supreme Court that hit so many like a kick in the gut.

My anger over that ruling runs as deep as my patriotism used to.

SCOTUS is supposed to be above politics, but the current members have fallen so deep in the political mire they’d need a crane to get back to unbiased ground.

Which is where they are supposed to stand.

Unbiased.

Separate from any political party’s agenda.

According to an interpretation of Artcle III Section One of the Constitution by Harvard Law professor Richard W Garnaett and David A Strauss from the Chicago School of Law: “The judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.” So the Constitution itself says that we will have a Supreme Court, and that this Court is separate from both the legislature (Congress) and the executive (the President).

Can you hear me screaming members of SCOTUS?

PRIMAL SCREAM

Okay. Now I feel better.

Perhaps my mental and emotional state would be better if my body was stronger physically, but recovery from my hip surgery has been a real struggle. Still a significant amount of pain that has been limiting what I can do. And, as always, I don’t want to give in to the pain and become more limited.

In a July 4th post from 2017 titled Birthday Bash, I recounted the toll that Ramsay Hunt Syndrome had been taking on my body for the previous year and a half, and here’s part of that post:

“I’ve thought a lot about aging this past year. Mainly because my body keeps giving me vivid reminders of just how old I am, and that nasty Ramsay Hunt has kicked my butt big time. The meds I take to keep the nerve pain under some kind of control, have played havoc with my general strength and stamina, and I have lost a lot this past year and a half.

“As I move past another birthday, I’m fighting the image of myself as the little old lady who pauses in the grocery store aisle to look at something, leaving a cart right in the middle. Someone much younger waits patiently for the little old lady to make up her mind and continue on.

“I don’t want to be that old lady.

“I’d rather be like the one I see outside, working on her property when I drive to town. Often, she is pulling weeds, bent over at the waist, and there are several bags indicating she has been doing that for an hour or more. Other days, I drive by and she’s on her riding mower, making her two-acre front look like a putting green.”

When I found that older post and read it, I sat at my desk for what seemed like forever, realizing that I feel the same way this year in 2024 as I did back then, only the feelings are stronger.

While we celebrate each day we wake up on the right side of the grass, aging is not easy, and I can picture my peers raising a glass and saying, “Hear! Hear!”

That older post ended on a note of determination to work on getting and staying strong on all levels, and I really need to dig deep to get there again.

Hang on a minute, I have to go get a shovel.

Okay back again, and I don’t want to end this post on such a downer, so here is part of another older post about July 4th. It’s also an excerpt from my humorous memoir, A Dead Tomato Plant And a Paycheck.

Enjoy…

When I was a kid, I naturally assumed that all the fanfare, from parades to fireworks, was all done in my honor, and it was a big shock to me at about age eight to realize that 15 of us were celebrating my birthday and the rest of the world could care less.

My sister, likewise, thought all the hullabaloo was in my honor, and it really upset her. After all, on her birthday she only got cake and ice cream and a new pair of shoes, but I got a parade, a picnic, fireworks, and a new bathing suit. (Even discounting all the rest, she would have been happy to trade her shoes for the bathing suit).

One year she really got in a tiff about the whole thing. Instead of going down to the corner to watch the annual parade with us, she locked herself in the bathroom. “It’s not fair!” she wailed. “Just one time I’d like to see them have a parade for my birthday.”

That was the year I learned the horrible truth, as my mother tried to patiently explain to both of us what the Fourth of July really meant; and get us down to the corner before we missed the parade.

Small town parades have a way of passing swiftly and every second was precious.

Disappointment loomed larger than life for me, although my sister was now delighted, and I found that the parade didn’t have the same magic anymore. In fact, I considered locking myself in the bathroom for a good cry.

Now that I am a grown woman of some maturity, although that point is debatable at times, I have learned to be more pragmatic in my approach to my birthday. But the child in me would still like to walk down to the corner to see the parade and I always get goose-bumps when I hear “Yankee Doodle Dandy” on the radio.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That’s all from me for today folks. Do come back tomorrow when Slim Randles will be my guest with some thoughts about the Fourth of July.