What's in a gift?

This time of year with graduations and celebrating the 4th had me thinking back to when I graduated from high school. I know -- strange jump, but that is how my mind operates sometimes. I think it is an occupational hazard of the writer in me; spontaneous mental transporting.

My parents each gave me unique gifts which at the time puzzled me. First, my mom gave me a set of luggage. Luggage! Complete with identification tags and leashes for easy rolling. Actually, once they were full they became top heavy and fell over, so I looked like I was dragging a dead dog through the airport. At the time, I remember thinking "I've just graduated, so now you want me to get out?" But the message I read in that luggage now is "Go and explore your world beyond the one we've provided for you here."

That luggage accompanied me on two more choir tours with my church after graduation, to a semester abroad in London, England where I met my husband, and ultimately to college and my own apartment. They have been joined by more modern pieces of luggage with better wheels like rolling backpacks, but I can't part with them. They collect dust in my garage as reminders of my travels; where I've been and from where I came.

My dad on the other hand, gave me a cedar hope chest for my graduation. I did go to the store and show him which one I had my eye on, but I really didn't think he would purchase it and at the time, I didn't have a place to put it. I was a vagabond with luggage. What would I do with a cedar hope chest? So, it sat in my room at home, ignored for a handful of years while I drug the luggage around the globe.

When the luggage and I finally parked in a house my husband and I purchased shortly after we were married, I claimed my cedar chest from my mother's house. When I opened its lid, the fragrant smell of cedar brought me back to the shopping day with dad. I had stashed all my teenage stuff in there; my mortar board, doll collection, Mickey Mouse ears. They all came to live with me in my new house. I have added the sweaters my grandmother knit my kids when they were infants, a quilt from my dad's mother and college pennants.

Luggage and a Cedar Hope Chest. They still speak to me today. "There is more to be explored but there is no place like home." Life consists of both. The daily meal of errands, housecleaning and being with family is seasoned by road trips and vacations.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, as the Byrds sang some forty years ago. "To everything there is a season. A time to be born, and a time to die. A time to tear down, and a time to build up. A time to search, and a time to give up. A time to keep and a time to throw away." The trick is discerning when. I wonder what I will choose to give my children when the time comes for them to leave the nest . . . .

Celebrating the 4th

Independence Day. The Fourth of July. Barbecues and fireworks. In my heart, it isn't just another holiday but one that stirs up a wonderful blend of memories, some of which are mine and some that were recorded by generations of proud Americans before me.

My father was born in July. He also passed away in July. He was a patriot at heart, collecting bald eagle figurines and American flags. He never missed the opportunity to vote and I can remember accompanying him into the mysterious voting booth on more than one occasion. Dad would tear up at the National Anthem and had a profound respect for those who served in the military. He passed the importance on to me. To be aware that I am living in a "wonderful Democratic Experiment." Men who were willing to leave prestige, wealth and privilege for the opportunity to worship their God and govern themselves.

I can recall bursting into a chorus of "Yankee Doodle" or "Grand Ole Flag" after my class at school had recited the Flag Salute. I practiced my cursive writing on the sayings of old and who said them. . . "A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned." (Benjamin Franklin) "Give me Liberty or give me Death." (Patrick Henry) "First in War, First in Peace and First in the hearts of his countrymen." (Henry Lee in honor of George Washington.) I recall the pomp and circumstance that followed the Bicentennial in 1976. The Quarter that was minted to commemorate the occasion.

Thomas Jefferson once warned that the same government who can promise you much, if given too much power will also be able to take it all away. The men who formed this country didn't depend on Government grants, programs or stomped their foot in defiance as they confused 'right' with 'privilege.' If our forefathers walked the streets of America today, would they recognize it? Was the Grand Experiment a success?

America sits on the globe as a beacon to those who live in poverty and oppression. The Nation Under God seeks to aid and support countries who groan under tyrants, not for the sake of taking them over and forcing them to become American, but because it was the belief of the writers of our Constitution that all men were created equal and are endowed by their Creator (a person) with certain unalienable rights. Among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Has the American spirit died? I would argue no. There are many monuments and moments which you can find it alive and well. Study the Statue of Liberty in New york harbor as she silently waits with her torch raised. Follow the path of a bald eagle as it soars high in the sky. Walk past the white tombstones of the hundreds of soldiers who bravely knew that freedom isn't free. Listen to the immigrants raise their hands and recite the Pledge.

We are the Melting Pot. The place where you can live out your heritage with the freedom of speech and religion. Where you can explore, dream, and obtain. God Bless America.