I'll never forget the chilling day I visited a small cemetery in Forks, Washington (known for being the home of Twilight's favorite vampires). The wind seemed to move about the cemetery that day quietly in reverence of those who had passed on. As a dear friend pointed out a few of their relative's tombstones and reminisced about old memories, one particular tombstone caught my special attention. His name meant nothing to me personally and the headstone simply stated that it was the final resting place of a young soldier who had died in war. He passed away in his early twenties - just at the beginning of his young life.

Silently, I wondered what he had missed in making the decision to serve his country and pay the ultimate price. What if he had been engaged and because of his service missed his own wedding? I thought of the children he never had - the opportunity to raise them and call them his own. My heart ached for his dear mother and father who regrettingly opened a letter informing them that their son wouldn't be returning home. I wondered if he would have been a renowned doctor who saved hundreds of lives, or a great lawyer who fought for the truth and demanded that justice be served. And yet, there he lied in the cold hard ground, a young American dreamer whose journey had been cut short.

I have visited Washington D.C. on several occasions, and it is truly one of the most historical and moving places I have ever been to. History rings from the walls, echoing the dead, living, and future American dream. The Fourth of July is a nationally recognized holiday that celebrates the approval of the Declaration of Independence made by Congress in 1776. I admire the courage that the original founders of our nation had, along with all those who have served since in various ways to uphold and sustain our great nation.

The American flag represents so much more than a happy, ideal life. No matter how imperfect our government, its laws, or executions thereof may seem at times, I pray we never forget the thousands of lives sacrificed to pave a brighter path for future generations, to ensure the safety of our everyday lives that we so evidently take for granted. Freedom and independence come at very real costs.

I'll leave you to think on the second verse of our dearly beloved "America the Beautiful," which reads,

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!