Patriotism starts at my youngest memories living in the Midwest. Back then it was what songs were written about. It was baseball, apple pie, Fourth of July fireworks, and pride in America. I remember as a kid of about 5 years old, we had a fire in our basement. I’ll never forget being rushed out of bed, and seeing all the firemen and lights in and around our house. I was held in the driveway by a fireman, wrapped in a blanket, as they finished putting out the fire. I remember policemen and others that would let us check out their cars as they sat in the parking areas we were riding our bikes around. My family had pretty much all served in the military. My dad was in the Navy during the Korean War, my uncles were all in Vietnam. I remember an older kid that used to fix everyone’s bicycles in our neighborhood and how the whole neighborhood mourned over his death after only a year in the Army. There wasn’t any question back then who’s allegiance everyone belonged. Everyone in the news, and television and movies all loved the United States. War time movies that glorified and honored our troops, and always delivered special messages to our “boys”. Bob Hope, Ed Sullivan, and all the crooners that had their own special versions of American songs performed practically nightly on TV. Even late night TV was patriotic. There wasn’t the division we have today. Every morning we would arrive at school, and the PA would squawk, and we were addressed by someone we all knew in the office. Then some lucky kid, usually one having achieved something special, would get to lead the entire school in the pledge of Allegiance. Do you remember?

For me, I get that there is no perfect society. I get that as a country, we have a lot of growth and maturity to gain. I love our pledge of allegiance, and miss the unity we had as a country when I was growing up. I think as Americans, regardless of our descent, we should strive to find the things we agree upon and hold tight to that. As a nation under God, we should remember that unity begins with finding agreement. Amos 3:3 asks; “can two walk together except they be agreed?” I think it’s important to focus on the things we can agree on, and let the rest work itself out trusting God to work in the areas that men shouldn’t. At 1st Call, we don’t expect to agree with everyone on everything. We look for ways to agree. One thing we all can agree on, is that we love our cars, and regardless of what you drive, if you are visiting us, you would like your car to look and function well, or better than it does. We are here for that, and we are here for you.

If you are a first responder, or have served or are in service of our country, we appreciate the sacrifice you make, the risk you take for us to be able to live and work and serve in the capacity we have in this beautiful, diverse, beloved country of ours. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. We do offer you a 10% discount on all of our in house services.

May God bless America, and may He bless you.