Dave Richards for July 3rd…………….
--The current heat wave is certainly making the Blackstone Valley bake! After months of ‘almost spring’ the summer season is unmistakably here. And with the mercury, tempers are getting hotter. Some people are uncomfortable and unhappy and they don’t hide it. They disagree with others and fight with each other, sometimes just to blow off steam. It is not mankind’s most attractive feature.
Protesters last week across our area joined those across the country in protesting the separation of immigrant children from their parents who brought them into the country in violation of our laws. That’s a fine idea, if it weren’t two weeks after the government had already stopped doing it. But why waste a good protest topic simply because it’s gone?
Politics is getting to be a blood sport. People more and more ignore common sense and become suicidal about winning a political argument or destroying a political foe. No holds are barred. It’s terrible behavior.
Yes, my friend there is certainly much to make us unhappy these days, but I don’t know why it has to come to this. There is much to be happy about. For instance, tonight at Barry Field the city will stage its concert and fireworks display, and I plan to just go there. Oh, I’d thought about broadcasting it, but frankly, I’m tired and if I broadcast it, I’d just become more tired. I’m just going to take a nice walk up there and sit and enjoy. I hope you do, too. I hope our city leaders do as well. Forget the disagreements for a day or so and come back with a fresh outlook and maybe a solution. You never know until you try.
--Another thing to be happy about? Last Friday was the first of the Levitt/AMP Woonsocket concerts in River Island Art Park and a fine time was had by all. The crowds were nice and well-behaved. Not big like Autumnfest, but very nice with plenty of room under the shady trees to unfold your chair and relax. The experiment of selling alcohol for consumption within the park was a success, and everyone respected the rules. It was a fine time. This Friday will be week two of ten and there will be dancing there I can assure you, as a young lady from Providence called EhShawnee will bring her tropical island dance music to the stage. Take some time to be there.
--Yes, it’s for sure that tempers can run short when the heat makes us uncomfortable. So it is at this time I think we should remind ourselves of the many blessings we share the days, bought with the lives and blood of thousands who came before us. On Memorial Day and Veterans’ Day we pause and reflect. But I think it’s even more appropriate that on July 4th we pause for a moment and reflect on the sacrifices made by those we never knew. People who could have tried to get along under British rule, but chose instead to bring upon themselves the unspeakable horrors and hardships of war in order to bring upon us a legacy of liberty. These people, older than our great-grandfather’s great-grandfather are separated from us by time, but their gift to us, bought with their sacrifice, remains for us to enjoy.
My father taught me that one of the greatest shames a person can bring upon themselves is to disrespect a gift. Whether from God or from another person, a gift is special and deserves both our sincere gratitude and our special care to preserve it. It could be a talent you come by naturally and share with others, or it could be the opportunities and advantages of simply living in the United States of America. Yes, for all of her faults she still gives her citizens a place to live, to aspire, to win, and to fail………but then the chance to try again, this time to win. What more can a person truly ask for than a chance to make a better life?
Many people from other countries have asked for the same and come here to get it. If my numbers are correct, America’s population has doubled since the last World War. Yes, some came here illegally and some came here in accord with our laws. But they all came here for the same reason. To have a better life than where they came from could give them. To enjoy the Hope of a better life for themselves and their families. Some have endured much to get a share of that Hope. We who were born and raised here got it for nothi-- no, that’s wrong. We got it as a gift from those who came and worked and fought and sometimes died so we could have what we have.
Stop for a moment and consider that, friend. Doesn’t it seem wrong to disagree and argue so much with each other……….when we all have it so good?
--That’s what I think. What do you think? Comments to: dave@onworldwide.com or postal mail to Dave Richards, WOON Radio, 985 Park Avenue, Woonsocket, RI 02895-6332.
Have a safe and Happy Independence Day……..and ………Thanks for reading.
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