Happy Birthday, America! The Greatest Nation ever founded by Men, in the entire recorded history of the world, is 250 years old today.

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I am always grateful for having been born in the United States of America, the third generation of my Jewish family to be born in America. Both of my grandfathers came to America from Eastern Europe, places that are now in Ukraine. Both served in the military, my paternal grandfather in the Russian Navy, and my maternal grandfather in the French Army in WWI. My father served in the US Coast Guard in WWII, and they all were eternally grateful for having come to America.

Without these exceptional men, America would not have been founded. They were educated, erudite, Sandwell-spoken, every one. They were the best the Colonies could provide, and they made America what it is today. Hail the Founding Fathers!

Here’s what is taking place across America to celebrate this momentous anniversary.

The above is extremely important this year, since the FOUR YEARS of the Biden “Administration” fireworks were BANNED at Mount Rushmore. We are seeing more and more evidence that the Democrats in America hate their country and want it diminished in power, influence, and importance in the world. Here’s what President Donald Trump had to say, at last night’s demonstration of love for our great country.

From Abroad.

Wishing America the Beautiful a Very happy 250 year anniversary

The first time my parents took us on a family holiday in America in the 90s, I remember 16 year old me, being grumpy on the flight there, thinking: “Great… loud and obnoxious Americans for 2 weeks… we will be lucky to make it back alive”

I was gearing up to hate absolutely everything about that trip and the country, based on all the stereotypes I had heard living and growing up in Europe. I went in blase and cynical, I left impressed and filled with wonders. There everything seemed bigger, taller… The energy always left me with a great sense of adventure at the amazing places we visited, the people I found, were normal and wholesome without any airs, and I was left with the sense that there, only the sky was the limit

That sense that “only the sky is the limit” has never gone away, as I returned over the years and little by little, The U.S became a second home away from home

Mand God bless the US and its people as they celebrate this historic day in style

None of the foreign countries above would be free today, if it hadn’t been for the largest advocate and protector of Liberty in the world, the United States of America.

More thoughts from Americans who appreciate their freedom and being American.

Happy Independence Day!

It has been 250 years since the signing of our Declaration of Independence. This year has had me reflecting not only on the history of our great nation that is built upon liberty, individualism, and self-governance but also on my own ancestors.

I recently discovered several remarkable relatives whose stories had nearly been lost to time. One ancestor traveled from Ireland as a young man, crossing the Atlantic Ocean before settling in Virginia. He married there and raised eleven children. Sadly, he later died from a rattlesnake bite in the early 1800s.

My 5th great-grandfather is a documented Revolutionary War patriot from Virginia, by the Daughters of the American Revolution.

I also learned of another relative who was working on his farm when he was attacked by marauding Native Americans. He managed to retreat to his cabin, where his wife bravely assisted him by firing a rifle at the attackers.

Including, a relative who served as a Union soldier during the Civil War and died from typhoid fever.

These stories of courage, hardship, and service remind me how important it is to preserve our family history before they fade away.

I continue to seek out who they were and how the family tree became so scattered, from the East Coast to the West, and everywhere in between in flyover country.

I am a fourth-generation Washingtonian. My family has always worked with their hands. Generations of men had calloused hands, resilience, and a sense of humor that polite society might struggle with. The women in the family are cut from the same cloth. Instead of calloused hands, we have soft hands that have nurtured bellies for generations. In these present times, I find myself becoming the storyteller, record keeper, and heirloom maker.

Washington State was known as Washington Territory before it gained statehood and became the 42nd state admitted to the Union on November 11, 1889. We are not nearly 250 years old, but we are part of the American story. Our state is named after President George Washington, whose likeness appears on both our state flag and seal.

. In Eastern Washington, there is even a town called George, Washington. On Independence Day, locals there uphold a tradition of baking the world’s largest cherry pie and serving it to those who attendAs George Washington himself reminded us: “The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the republican model of government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.”

When we say we are from Washington, we often have to clarify, “the other Washington.” Adding to the confusion, there is yet another Washington in Washington State. A story for another time.

This year, I also want to mention the Great American State Fair in Washington, D.C. Our state, along with Oregon, opted out. As

Washington Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck told KIRO News, “Our state is facing a very difficult fiscal situation. With that in mind, given the significant costs associated with participating in the Great American State Fair, we chose to focus on supporting local efforts here in Washington State for this very important commemoration.”

This decision left a disappointing empty section at the fair. It was a missed opportunity to showcase our heritage: whether reflected in timber, mining, or agriculture (not even an apple to be found!), or in our aviation, software, and tech industries. Let’s not overlook our Native American tribes either. It would have been wonderful to have someone there representing the Pacific Northwest tribes.This reminds me of a post by @fugitivemama

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Is Washington State part of the United States?We are. Even as we watch progressives remove our historical statues or push to redesign the state flag because George Washington’s face does not fit their vision of “progress,” (I might be cheeky here) but there are still proud Americans here. They unapologetically fly the flag, even if they are the only ones on their street. They are the individuals who show up at city council meetings and make others squirm simply by refusing to conform to groupthink.

There is an American spirit that remains in Washington State.

At the end of the day, while leadership in Olympia does not represent all 39 counties of Washington, it ultimately comes down to the individual. We must each ask what we can do in our own communities. Later today, there will be a public reading of the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, the National Anthem, and the Washington State Constitution outside the courthouse. Yesterday, I spent the afternoon decorating my son’s wagon for the Fourth of July parade. We will be at the city park celebrating 250 years, followed by an airshow and fireworks.

It is far past time to stop leaving our communities solely in the hands of elected officials. We must volunteer our time and energy. We have seen the impact of generations moving away—perhaps never returning—and old traditions fading with time. As we look ahead to the next 250 years, remember who your ancestors were. Do not leave their stories to schools that have distorted their image. They say you are forgotten in two generations. Think of those we have lost over the years for the freedoms we enjoy today.

It is time to plant your feet, wave your American flag, and hug your loved ones a little closer as we celebrate living in the greatest country on earth.

One post has a cautionary statement that we would all be better off heeding, and discussing with our families this Independence Day. Emphasis mine.

“There is a phrase in the Catholic Church for a certain kind of believer: the cradle Catholic. It means the one who was born into the faith, baptized before he could speak, raised inside the rituals so completely that he never had to choose them. He did not convert. He did not study his way in or have a come-to-Jesus moment that brought him to the church door as a grown man. The cradle Catholic was simply always there. And the church has a quiet worry about him, an insecurity, because the thing you are handed in the cradle is the thing you are most likely to take for granted. The convert had to earn the faith and so he knows exactly what it is. The cradle Catholic risks practicing out of habit a thing he has never once had to defend. “I have come to think there is such a thing as a cradle American, and that many of us now are one. We were born into freedom the way the cradle Catholic was born into the faith. We did not convert to freedom. Most of us under seventy did not serve in the armed forces or march for it or risk our families. We were born into this land where the rights were already written down and the laws made. And like the cradle Catholic, we are in danger of losing the greatest thing we have ever been given, because a freedom you have never had to defend is a freedom you do not know how to defend.”

From this VERY grateful Cradle American:

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY TO ALL!

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