Reflecting on America’s Independence Day…
When I was a teenager I used to write love letters. Pleading, coaxing, urging messages peppered with the blame of a lover for his misbehaving beloved. I would remind her of her honor, her virtue, her beauty, and how she was more admired and inspiring than any other; but that she was letting herself and others down, compromising her dignity, living and behaving in a way that undermined herself. She was not being true to who she really was, and she was turning away from the devotion of those who truly loved her. She was involving herself with abusive partners who just wanted to exploit her.
All of these letters were addressed to America; and I was deeply in love with her.
I am older, more experienced, and presumably wiser now, but of course, one never forgets one’s first love. And frankly, America still breaks my heart.