Proud to Be An American
listening in my car on the way to work; the scanner scans music too fast, and i don't want to stop on a song I don't recognize. A country station pops up its signal and the tuner stops - it sounds so familiar. I hit the scan button so it won't turn my song i sleuthfully discovered. And then I realize its a song I sang in front of people when I was a little girl:

proud to be an american
cuz at least i know i'm free
and i won't forget the men who've died
and gave that right to me
and i'll glady stand up...

next to you and defend her still today
cuz there ain't no doubt i love this land
god bless the USA

Well I only sang it once in front of a crowd. Nervous, stuck with the boys because my voice was lower than the other girls, in a dress. At a time when my mother still went to events like the PTA; they were important then. I don't go to PTA events, but at least I have an excuse - I am working. I remember singing with all my bravado, chutzpah and begin to sing along to this song - about a country that i no longer recognize blindfolded by a Orwellian dim future - and tears stream down my face.