i went to the store, with a hand-written note that said, "i left this here on purpose. you are the lucky one to find it. now, it's your turn to do something nice." i wrapped the note around a 5 dollar bill and tucked it in the hot dog case.
i went to a community independence day barbecue with my parents and 4 of their roughly-the-same-age friends. my parents are 87. i listened to conversations that started, then stopped (because the person telling it couldn't remember it), and then started again. only this time, we were on to another topic altogether.
i listened to the same remarks over and over and over:
- "isn't this barbecued chicken good? this barbecued chicken is good."
- "isn't this weather wonderful? this weather is just wonderful."
- "we must be doing something right to get weather like this on the fourth of july!"
- "that's right, don! we must be doing something right!"
- "what was the weather like last fourth of july?"
- "i don't remember."
- "i don't remember, either."
- "remember what?"
- "what the weather was like last year at this time."
- "oh."
- "do you know?"
- "me? no! heavens no! don't look at me! i can't remember what i had for breakfast!"
- isn't this barbecued chicken good? this barbecued chicken is good."
i came home and gave my dog an extra treat.
i walked around my neighborhood and forgave every single one of 'em for not having an american flag flying.
i read through my facebook news feed and didn't get angry at anybody's crazy opinions.
i looked back over my day and shamefully realized that i had spent it being more proud of myself than of my country.
today's a new day.
