Come look America...look deep into your soul. What do you see? What is it that makes you so special? What is your secret? Come see...
Fireworks on the Fourth of July...Aaahhh. Cheeseburgers, lemonade.
Cold Beer, potato salad, watermelon, pinwheels.
Uncle Sam; tall & lean, top hat, white goatee.
Coney Island. The Beach Boys-Endless Summers. Youth.
Elvis! Hank. Sachmo. Yankee Doodle. Bird. Sousa. Porter & Gerhswin. So much melody crammed into just two centuries.
Baseball; oiled mitts and bats so worn the pine gleams.
The Yankees; Ruth and Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle...names for the ages.
County fairs. Cotton candy. The Penny Arcade
Jump rope, hop-scotch, stickball, kick the can. Catch a wave. Lasso the moon.
Father; son. Mother; daughter. Laughter, tears. Hope &Fears.
Eat at Joe's, swimming holes. The cellar door, a backyard swing.
California Dreams. I Love New York. Eat a Peach. Tootsie Rolls. Golden Gate. City of Angels. Go west young man! Bada-Boom, Bada-Bing.
Flexible Flyer. Red light-green light. The Super Bowl. Cracker Jacks & Bazooka Joe.
Sunday morning; kneeling, praying. Family, friends... gone too soon.
Green Lantern. Batman. Trick or Treat. Auld Langsyne.
Mist shrouded bayous. Shrimp boats and Madi Gras. Home Sweet - Home of the Brave. Christmas Morning. Passover Dinner. Dog day afternoons.
Marshmallows toasting. PB&J on-Hero's & Hoggies. I y'am what I y'am.
Mickey. Donald. Woody & Goofy. What's Up Doc? Dead End Kids. Paper kites and circus balloons.
The morning paper. The way it was...90 miles to Cuba. The evening news.
Thanksgiving. Pass the gravy. Gratitude. Our Gang. Our Town.
Be my Valentine.
Cool Jazz. Rock Around the Clock. Cheatin' Heart. Bicycle Built for Two.
The Mississippi. The Ohio. The Hudson. Tom & Huck. Papa H.
Hawkeye. Ichabod. Ishmael. Booker T. Susan B. Porgy & Bess.
Tom Joad. Faulkner. Rye Catcher. Rabitt Run. Heerrre's Johnny...
Swinger of Birches. Kerouac. Clark Kent. Snoopy, Betty Boop.
Boggie & Bacall. Gone with the Wind. W.C. & Mae West.
A Really Big Show. Your Show of Shows. Lucy, I love. 'The Duke.'
The Little Tramp. Groucho. Marilyn. Hey Moe! Hey Abbott!
Hay rides. Sleigh Rides. Gone with the Wind. Another Fine Mess.
Smile, God Loves You.
Stand back and look...so much sacrifice...honor and valor...
Hollowed ground: Gettysburg. Appomattox. Remember the Alamo. Lexington & Concord. Bunker Hill.
Arlington: our dead in row upon row of white crosses.
Graveyards marking the passage of time. Generation after generation. A tiny flag, a white rose. A poem.
A morning in September.
Fallen heroes, smoke and ashes. Uncommon bravery. Let's Roll, Todd.
Names etched in black marble-long time coming but finally we say thanks; trace the names, cry.
And remember.
Nearby a tomb. An eternal flame. Known but to God.
Always...Forever...The General above them, guarding their memory-
Guarding them still.
Listen...
"When in the course...We the people...Give me Liberty!
Do ordain and establish...One life to give for my country...
Give me your tired, your poor...yearning to be free... One small step...
Four score and seven years...Nothing to fear...Ask not... Don't Tread on Me!
I had a dream... Under God... Lafayette, we are here... Damn the torpedoes...
Mr. Gorbachev... Oh say can you see..."
America.
...You are so blessed. In all the ages there is nothing to compare. Love, defend, forgive and embrace each other. And if you look long enough and hard enough you will see - and this is the secret -you will see in yourself: the most loving; most generous; kindest; noblest; hardest working - let's face it, HAPPIEST- people to walk the face of the earth.
--- Melissa Prussing
I am a 20 year old, first generation Floridian. I grew up in Palm City and gratuated from Martin County High School. I've just completed my sophomore year at the University of Central Florida where I hope to pursue a master's degree in education. I enjoy the beach, music and sports.