A Great Country

by David Safier

This afternoon, a neighbor invited my wife and I over to her house without telling us why. She greeted us at the door with a hug and showed us a folder containing her brand new citizenship papers.

She came here from Germany over 20 years ago to go to college and has been here legally ever since. She finally decided it was time to become a U.S. citizen.

She opened a bottle of champagne, we clinked glasses, then we sat around sipping and talking. Mainly, she wanted to talk about the ceremony. She couldn't stop talking about how wonderful it was. The high point was when the new citizens were given the opportunity to talk about themselves. One person from Eastern Europe said how wonderful it was to be in a country where you could say anything you want and not worry about the consequences. A young man from Mexico came here when he was four. His mother, who was educated and degreed in Mexico, worked as a maid here and slowly earned her college degree. It was tough, but she wanted her son to have the opportunities he could only find here. And so on.

I've had experiences like this a few times in my life, talking with someone who tells me that old, cliched story about what a great country this is — except that it isn't a cliche, because for every one who says it, it's real and immediate and new and special.

It's easy to overlook that kind of thing when you were born here and spend a lot of time looking at all our problems. But there's a reason people continue to flock here. This is the land of opportunity and abundance, a place where people can reach their potential through hard work. Unfortunately, we don't always live up to our reputation and our potential. We can and should be a lot better than we are. But it's worth remembering what we are at our best, and worth cherishing, and worth protecting.