One nation?

I have been somewhat disturbed as of late reading through different social media posts. The sentiment seems to always be littered with “my state is better than your state” attitude. Now don’t get me wrong, there is a pride that goes with being from one place or another and I understand that. I currently live in Arizona, but my roots are in Nebraska. This is actually pretty common here. Many of the people I know or work with didn’t grow up here, but the are transplants. One might even call them immigrants from another place. It doesn’t stop with states either, the arguments go on. I’m from the city and cities are better than the country, or I’m from a small town and you better believe we stick together so don’t come snooping around here you big city folk. I can understand a bit of this too, growing up in the rural Midwest, but now living in a large metropolitan area. I’ve found there’s good and bad about both actually. I can appreciate this for what it is. Not all people in rural towns are nice and not all people in the city are nice. But what the problem seems to be is that many people are lumping everyone else into something they may or may not be. Just because you grow up in say, South Dakota, doesn’t make you more American than someone who grew up in New Jersey and vice versa. What I have always thought made us a great place to live (USA) was that we have people from all of these different places joining together to be one great nation. The separation thing I am witnessing only leads to pain. A sage old saying, a house divided can not stand, speaks volumes.

I chose the photo above because, I am a veteran, I served my country, not just my state, not just my town, not just my neighborhood, but my country. And I am not just a veteran, I am a husband, a dad, a grandpa, a friend, a Nebraskan, an Arizonan, a small town trailer court kid, a city dweller who owns a home, a worker, a boss, a good guy, and sometimes even an ass. I am an American and all of these at the same time. Find the beauty in our differences. Love one another regardless of our differences, we need each other every day. I hope when all is said and done that when people speak of me, they remember fondly that I cared and loved them not because of where they came from but simply because they were a human being just like me.