American Pride and a Father's Legacy

Sometimes I think I am married to Super Man.  He carries the weight of the world on his shoulders, rarely complains and does so with strength and integrity.  In addition to working a full time job, Chris has been enrolled as a full time student for the last 2.5 years.  To his great joy and relief, he will graduate at the end of this year with a degree in Logistics and Transportation Management.

Recently he wrote a discussion board I would like to share with you.

Trying to place a label on what it means to be American or what defines the American spirit is impossible.  What makes this nation so unique is the wide variety of races, nationalities, religions and individuals that all come together to form one nation.  In my opinion American equals pride.  Pride in oneself, pride in ones country and pride in the knowledge that even though our nation may have seen better days than the ones we now live in that it is still the most revered country in the world.  Whenever I think about the spirit of the American people I am reminded of the days and weeks that followed 9/11.  That sense of pride was in overdrive.  Instead of hanging our heads in defeat we rose up together, waving American flags and standing together as one.  Those days may have faded quickly, but they were there, and they reflect the very best of what makes us unique as a nation.

As a father of three young boys it is easy to see what my legacy will be on a daily basis.  I watch them grow and I strive to give them a better world than my own.  Today’s America is a continually changing environment of the unknown.  Will there be more terrorist attacks?  Will the level of our debt rise to an even more unfathomable level?  These are questions that I ask myself as I look at my sons, and they are questions that push me to ensure that they are well educated and ready for the day when they are adults with children of their own. 

My wife and I are also in the middle of a foreign adoption process with the goal that we will be bringing a young child home from a Taiwanese orphanage at some point later this year.  This will give us the opportunity to show our biological children a new level of compassion while giving a needy child a home and a family.  To that end I also hope that my legacy will be that my children are exposed to a larger world than the one in their own backyard.  While I want to instill American pride in my family I also want to open their eyes to a world that is becoming increasingly codependent on one another.  After all, what would a legacy be if it did not involve lofty goals and high aspirations?  

I am honored to stand beside this man, to be his wife and friend.