The 4th of July -- Celebrating the Country Among So Much Chaos

Friends,

I never thought I'd ever live through a pandemic, and I bet many of you guys thought the same. Then, I never thought we'd then be going back to work, opening stores again, way too early. It's so dangerous outside my front door, here in Dallas, but I still go out to shop, to put my feet in the sand.

There is a protest every day here in Dallas, a protest for people to all be protected and treated equally. You'd think since it's 2020, people would not still be treating each other in such a despicable way. You'd think instead we'd not be facing the murder of a person, a prison term for a person, all because the shade they are. We'd think that, in 2020, there would no longer be interment camps, and that we wouldn't have to teach your child on how to be cautious around the people who should be keeping us safe. It's heartbreaking, little children and their parents having to, rightfully, be afraid of police.

So why celebrate today?

Because we also pull together. In the times of need, people pull together. After a hurricane, after the flooding of so many towns down here in Texas sparked an outpouring of help from people saving puppies in their boats to others driving down to lend a hand or the use of their trunk. There was such an outpouring that they had to turn people away. Even the Ronald McDonald House has to turn volunteers away because they have so many already. People hold strangers in their arms while they are sobbing, and some give all the money they can, even at $5, to help their fellow man.

This is why we celebrate our country: No matter how bad things are -- and they are definitely bad -- you can always feel and see the outpouring of love and help and compassion. You can know that, even when you're going through something awful, you're not alone, you don't have to be alone. And that's the very definition of living in the USA. We're not perfect, we're still defining and redefining what "freedom" means, and we still have A LOT to improve upon, a lot of change needing to (and is) coming our way, but we can and are working on things. We can each be a change agent, and we should be -- that's what being American means.

No matter what, you are never alone. Things will get better. And that's the USA.

Go celebrate. Determine what you want and need to help change, and put it into action. Be a true American, and help others get to that "American Dream."

Love,

Alexis