Happy Birthday America!

  America turns 242 years old this month, and I’m not sure what gift is appropriate to mark such an occasion. I checked all the usual suggestions --the first is paper, the second year is cotton, the tenth tin, etc. But America is older than that, so I had to dig a little deeper to find that the 27th is statuary—nice idea, but America already has that really nice one France gave us--the 50th is gold—too tacky; the 60th is diamonds—no blood diamonds please.

I even consulted Hallmark on the matter but, alas, their list doesn’t go up that far. Being the unstoppable problem solver that I am, I’ve decided to just add 200 to the years listed and go from there.

Hallmark suggests that the 42nd –remember to add 200 for America’s birthday—be celebrated with the gift of clocks. While this seems challenging, it’s not as difficult as last year’s suggestion: 4

1st was desk decor. I think we can all agree that America has plenty on her desk as it is.

  Year 241 was an interesting year for our country. We experienced growing pains as we stretched to reach our full potential of a country “conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all (people) are created equal.”  America, that “shining city on the hill,” the unequaled land of opportunity, that “last, best hope of earth” stands again at a cross-roads. Who do we want to be as a nation? Where do we go from here? What time is it in America, anyway?

    We are a nation of immigrants, a nation of dreamers, of go-getters, bootstrappers and can-doers. We have reached for the stars and walked on the moon. We believe in giving people a fair shake, we believe in second chances, and we believe in ourselves, in American exceptionalism. I believe America’s clock is not set at five minutes to midnight; it is more than morning in America, I believe it is closer to noon.

What can I say? I’m an All-American Optimist.

Happy Birthday, America!   Next year, I’m just going to send you a card. Hallmark will approve, I’m sure.