We need to find a path

A path to civility. Think about your participation in this. What are your lines in the sand?Mine have dissolved my family. My lines in the sand turned my family into recluse women I don't speak to. And nephews and nieces who lived  with me and loved with me and mine during hard times into Facebook friends with THEIR Spouses.  Too much of life is lived in the past. Love and live in the future or present and none of this will happen

My life is a fake. A smile, a happiness that everyone expects. I try so hard to communicate my real self to those I love but they can't handle it. I am their rock, the core
of the family. Solid. It's beyond their comprehension that I can't handle life at all. And I don't know why I was born or am still here. I scare them. They say this when I am real. So I eat the sandwich that will fix it all and put on my smiley face so as not to scare any one and pretend once again.  And think...Just don't take the S for 6 weeks.
Yup fixed.

Embrace Change ...It is time our nation's symbols had a makeover

Embrace Change

It is time our nation’s symbols had a makeover

By

Teena Vaughn D’Annibale

“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States for America, and to her people for which she stands, one nation of diverse origins, wish liberty and justice for all.” by Teena Vaughn D’Annibale

The Home of the Brave (sung to the tune of the Star Spangled Banner)

By Teena Vaughn D’Annibale

O say can you see by the dawn’s early light

What so proudly we hail

As a nation of freedoms.

Whose broad stripes and bright stars

Through the perilous fights

For the freedoms of all

still stands gallantly dreaming.

For our people to hear

The loud shouts full of fear,

And answer those shouts

With a hand and a tear.

O say does that star spangled banner still wave,

For a land of the free,

And a home of the brave.

I want our National Anthem to reflect our rich history of fighting for the rights of our citizens. We are a people who do not look away. We choose to see. Choose to see and help our fellow man. America is so unique and blessed to be fluid. We were set up to be so by the founding fathers, They made our core principles as a country to be open to new ideas and our main focus and goal to be to endeavour to educate our people so they can make intelligent decisions and join in the process of making our nation a better place, not just for its current citizens, but for all people who are willing to come join in our fight for equality.

My new words to the anthem reflect how proud I am for the fights and thankful for the lives lost in the endeavour to free, not only our citizens from various tyrannies and prejudices that have ruled our own country, but to put our lives on the line to help others around the world who face poverty, and imprisonment of mind, body and soul throughout the years.

Regardless of your politics there is one thing we can all agree on. Our country is based on freedoms for all people; freedom from injustice and poverty and tyrannical governments; even if they are our own, freedom from boundaries placed on us based on race, creed, sex or country of origin.

The words to our current National Anthem do not reflect who we are. The poem is based on a hatred for another country and its politics and on the worship and idealization of war. America, in general,  has learned that diplomacy and reason far outweigh violence as a means to an end. War should be our last resort and most certainly not the basis for our National Anthem, a song that is supposed to tell other nations and remind us who we are and what we stand for every time it is sung. Most Americans don’t even know the words because the words are archaic and meaningless in today’s society. What must other nations think when they hear our representation of our country? Well, I want them to hear that we are a nation of change, a nation willing to fight for the rights of all and that we are proud of America, despite all of our shortcomings, because we can always come together and find a place at the table for everyone when we have differences within our borders. I want our anthem to remind future generations that we chose to change it because WE changed, for the better and it is their solemn duty as an American to continue to change and fight for what is right and just for all.

As for our pledge, I feel it is the same argument. We, as Americans, need to be reminded what was created in this country. The pledge  and the flag are symbols and a way to remember the nation IS her people and we agree to be there for each other. “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America”

“And to her people for which SHE stands”...America is nothing but land without US, her people.

“One nation of diverse origins”...just a description it would seem but also a reminder of who we are and from where we came so we can continue to be thus in the future, for it, diversity, makes us, Americans, unique in this world.

“ I wish liberty and justice for all” … a pledge to your country, your fellow citizens, that you are willing, because you are an American, to fight for them, to stick up for them on a daily basis, to have liberty and justice no matter who they are, what they look like, who they worship, what sex they are, what sex they were born with, you are wishing them liberty or freedom and justice or a fair, even playing field in all they endeavor.

Isn’t that what America is all about?

“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to her people for which she stands, one nation of diverse origins, wish liberty and justice for all.”