July 4th is a good day to remember my late parents. I'm so grateful that they made the decision to leave Cuba, endure the hardships of starting over and giving me a chance to grow up here. To say the least, my life would have been different down in Communist Cuba. Maybe I would have started something called Cuban Thinker and ended up in a political prison along with all my fellow writers. Yes, stuff like that happens in communist countries, but they don’t teach you that in college anymore.

So July 4th reminds me of just how great this land is and how fortunate it is to join the celebration or parade.

As the grandfather of a few -- the oldest is five and the youngest one month -- I also think about their future and the celebrations that they will be a part of. I think about the country that they will live in.

So I found this message so inspirational from H.R. McMaster:

On Independence Day, Americans should be grateful to live in a nation in which sovereignty lies with the people and founded on the principle put forward in the Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” while also recognizing that our nation is and always has been a work in progress.

Backyard barbecues on Independence Day provide an opportunity to end our social isolation, bridge our divides, and restore confidence in our ability to improve our nation at home and advance our interests abroad. On America’s 249th birthday, let us resolve to cherish our freedoms and realize the motto that appears on the Great Seal of the Republic: e pluribus unum -- out of many, one. As the patriot and civil rights activist Rosa Parks observed, “We will fail when we fail to try.”

Please read the whole thing because it will bring you back to reality, especially those who tell pollsters that they are not proud of the U.S. Not proud? Of what other country or system are you proud? Have you lived in any of these countries?

I heard from a young man on the radio that Europeans have free education and generous welfare programs. I wish that the moderator had asked the young man: Why do you think that is? Could it be that you don't have to invest in your defense because the U.S. has been defending you. It's easy to have generous welfare when U.S. aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean protect your border and skies.

So please depart the U.S. if you are not proud of it. Try living somewhere else and call me in six months. You may find that all those college professors were lying to you.

So God bless America or jump the fence. We won't miss you, but you are going to miss us a lot.

God bless America and the next 250.

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Image: Pixabay