God Bless America

I can't believe its been 7 years. Unreal. I remember that day like it was yesterday, as I'm sure everyone in this country does. All I can say is thank God I'm an America, thank God we're resilient and proud and that we push through. I remember being in India a year after the attacks, and everyone was like "don't let anyone know you're an American, blah blah." Fuck that. I'm American, I'm proud to be an American, and I wasn't spending 6 months in Iraq for Christ's sake. When we start denying where we're from, who have we become? (Disclaimer: there was one time when I was stopped by a militant Muslim policeman while in India just after the war started and my driver told the policeman that I was French. I didn't deny it. While I'm proud to be American, I'm not a fool. My rights as an American don't necessarily travel with me half way around the world. I'm smart enough to know that.)

So I thank every soldier, every patriot who protects us, our rights, our liberties. You are heroes in every sense of the word. And to my brother, who joined post 9/11 - you are amazing. You are a hero to me and I love you more than I can EVER say. And Meagan, thank you for traveling the world with my brother, you're such a trooper!

And finally, a Happy Birthday to Mr. Holland (the cute man who gave me my last name). I love you! Have a great day you cranky old man (I heard 39 is the new 20, so live it up!)!