A New Understanding Of An Old Pledge

From My Own Little Corner Sorry for the three new posts in one day, but I had a lot to say. :) This was left in the comments sections on one of my Veteran's Day ireports thanking my dad and my father-in-law. It gives a whole new meaning to our Pledge of Allegiance.


"ONE NATION UNDER GOD"
I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE

This is my right
Each day of my life
To honor my Country
In dawns early light

TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

The place of my people
Who walked on these shores
Who fought and died for
The colors she bore

AND TO THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS

For a nation of many
Who came to be free
Oppressed and all broken
Who sought liberty

ONE NATION UNDER GOD

For power and glory
His name shall remain
We shall not relinquish
His light is our flame

INDIVISIBLE

Each state born together
In power shall reign
With God's hands upon us
Our power remains

WITH LIBERTY

For it is our right
And we shall be strong
To always remember
Where Glory belongs

AND JUSTICE

No panel of judges
Can choose what we say
Our Nation's allegiance
Will not change today

FOR ALL

We watch as these people
Who brought so much pain
Now given the same rights
This Nation ordained

We will not abandon
The rights we all share
God and our Nation
The glory we wear

So wave sacred colors
Of red, white and blue
Stand in allegiance
With God next to you

Daisy A Day

From My Own Little Corner When I see a picture of my mom and dad together, this song often pops into my mind, as it reminds me so much of them. It is by Hank Snow and to this day I cannot sing it without crying. So this is for mom and dad. I love you.


He remembers the first time he met her

He remembers the first thing she said

He remembers the first time he held her

And the night that she came to his bed

He remembers her sweet way of sayin'

Honey has something gone wrong

He remembers the fun and the teasin'

And the reason he wrote her this song



CHORUS

I'll give you a daisy a day dear

I'll give you a daisy a day

I'll love you until the rivers run still

And the four winds we know blow away



They would walk down the street in the evening

And for years I would see them go by

And their love that was more than the clothes that they wore

Could be seen in the gleam in their eyes

As a kid they would take me for candy

And I'd love to go taggin' along

We'd hold hands while we walked the corner

And the old man would sing her this song



CHORUS

I'll give you a daisy a day dear

I'll give you a daisy a day

I'll love you until the rivers run still

And the four winds we know blow away



Now he walks down the street in the evening

And he stops by the old candy store

And I somehow believe he's believin'

He's holdin' her hand like before

For he feels all her love walkin' with him

And he smiles at the things she might say

Then the old man walks up to the hill top

And gives her a daisy a day



CHORUS

I'll give you a daisy a day dear

I'll give you a daisy a day

I'll love you until the rivers run still

And the four winds we know blow away

For My Father

From My Own Little Corner This post was written on the 10th, to be published on Veteran's Day, November 11th. I can remember being a child and seeing my father in his dress blues and feeling like he was the hero of the world. He was sooooooo handsome and when he wore that uniform, I felt such a sense of pride. As I have gotten older, I have come to realize that I had many reasons to be proud of my dad, and the least of them was how he looked when he donned his military uniform. The uniform symbolizes, for me, all that is good about our Armed Forces. They work tirelessly for our country, first learning, and then teaching other young men and women, the skills that they will need to protect us. From how to work radios, read radar, fly planes, run ships, read and send code, how to march, follow instructions, drive tanks, use weapons, and many more than I cannot even begin to remember. These things alone are reason enough to be proud of our Armed Forces, but when you compare them with the ultimate sacrifices that they make for our country, they pale in comparison. They leave their families behind, go through a rigorous training regimen, live in foreign lands, fight in wars that no one really wants to fight-but somebody has to-under conditions that are barely livable, give up their limbs and the ultimate sacrifice, their lives. And for what? To guarantee that you and I can live our lives with a measure of freedom that is found no where else in this world. To all the veterans, thank you. To the wives, mothers, fathers, children, and all family members of veterans, thank you. To my father, you always were, and always will be, my hero. Thank you for fighting in Korea, thank you for being in the military, thank you for protecting my country, thank you for taking care of us, thank you for all the wonderful places that I got to see as a child (one of the perks), but most of all, thank you for fighting for my rights, the most important of which we all just exercised in this last election. Because of your sacrifice, we were able to go to the polls and do what many people in this world can only dream of, elect a new President to lead our wonderful country, The United States of America. So please, go out today and thank a veteran for their selfless sacrifice. Because of them you have the freedoms that you cherish so deeply. We must not forget that. May your God bless and keep, you, and yours. Pray for peace and enlightenment. I LOVE YOU, DAD!!!

58.5%*

From My Own Little Corner In the tradition of my baby sister, Catrina, I am doing my own version of wordless Wednesday, but with a few words as a forward. Regardless of your political affiliation, yesterday, November 4, 2008, was a historical day. This country made a giant leap forward in it's reputation as the greatest nation in the world. People of all races, genders, religions, ages, colors, and political backgrounds came together and voted. They waited for hours, in some cases, for the chance to exercise their constitutional right to vote. The turnout was unbelievable. As of the typing of this post, 125,244,014* people out of 213,005,467* eligible voters had placed their vote for the President of these United States of America. That is approximately 58.5%* of the people who are registered. The result was another monumental moment, in our remarkably long list of monumental moments, as a democracy. We finally may have put the behind us the most shameful part of our legacy, racism. At least I hope that we have. Here, then, are some pictures to commemorate this truly phenomenal day.

*these are new numbers available as of 11/10/2008

It's Showtime

From My Own Little Corner
Okay folks, we have had two years of electioneering and now it has come down to it. Tomorrow is election day. The first Tuesday of November, every four years, part of the American people go to the polls and elect a new a President. I say part because, although most people are registered to vote, a good portion of them do not exercise that constitutional right. I'm not sure why, but I do know that if this election has done nothing else, it has certainly electrified the voting masses. That is something that this country has needed for a long time. There are too many people who look at voting as a chore that they are not willing to do. It isn't, it is a privilege that thousands of our forefathers died defending. I think that it is time that we remembered that, and that we remember that our constitution guarantees us the freedoms of religion, speech, and to vote for the person for President that we feel is the best for our country, among our many other rights, and that our forefathers died for all these rights as well. Having said these things, I just wanted to take this opportunity to remind people that voting is one of the most important duties of every citizen. It is these freedoms that make the United States of America the great country that it is. So get out and vote. And if you decide not to, then don't come complaining to me when you think that things aren't going as you feel that should be. Because if you don't use your right to vote, then you have no right to b@#ch. May your God bless, and keep, you and yours.