On our nation’s birthday I want to wish everyone a Happy 4th of July, but I don’t feel happy. I am deeply troubled about our future.
This is the first 4th of July since I moved to Europe 4 decades ago that I am not in my homeland celebrating the American holiday with family. Due to the present situation, I am not welcome there nor is my French husband or anyone else from Europe. No planes from abroad are allowed to land on American soil due to the Covid epidemic, but the great irony is that European leaders have done a much better job of handling the crisis than. Trump. The pandemic is under control here especially where we live in Switzerland.
The US has the most coronavirus cases and deaths in the world.
Americans are not allowed in Europe either, which is sad for European business.
“In 2019 around 18 billion Americans came to Europe spending 70 billion Euros (about 78 $billion dollars), “says Tom Jenkins CEO of the European Tourism Association.““
Europe’s borders have reopened to Europeans and 14 other countries – no one knows for how long— but they won’t be open to Americans anytime soon. Long haul flights and exchanges between Europeans and Americans look even more doubtful.
The financial fall out from lack of international trade between Europe and the US is massive; the emotional toll on families even greater.
I don’t know when I will see my children in the States again. My British daughter- in- law does not know when her family will be allowed to visit. My niece’s Chinese boyfriend has no idea when he will see his parents. And my eldest niece, who will be a new mother in two months, wonders what kind of a world awaits her baby.
Like most Americans living abroad, I am ashamed of our country’s leadership. I am alarmed by our President’s incompetence, his total lack of diplomacy, compassion and integrity.
I am worried for my daughter and niece who work in the medical health field in the States at a time when people show lack of respect for human life, refusing to do something as simple and innocuous as wearing a mask.
I am troubled by social unrest created from years of blatant inequality and lack of tolerance
I am horrified by the anti woman, anti gay, anti black, anti European rhetoric that fuels hatred and gives free license to bigotry.
Families may not be as international as mine, but so many of us can trace our ancestry to other parts of the world and so much of our nation was built on the backs of immigrants and slaves. To ignore the role of the African Americans, Asians and Europeans in the making of our country is a travesty, to sever the ties to our motherlands is a crime.
But I hope there are still pockets of America where the old values I grew up with still remain. Places like Summit Lake where time stands still, where hope runs eternal ,where nature heals our broken hearts. A place where the 4th of July is a celebration of a forgotten way of life of what is good about Americans, their childlike optimism and joie de vivre.
A place remarkable in its simplicity. Every 4th of July people dressed in costumes ride in decorated pontoon boats that circle the lake waving flags and throwing out candy and icees to people sitting on their docks. Later in the evening fire works explode from the public beach across the lake rivals any big city display. On the dock, wrapped in blankets, we swat mosquitoes while admiring the burst of sparkly colors illuminating the black waters and believe in childhood dreams again.
This year though I am sad for my country, I am thinking of happier 4th of July memories. Still my heart aches for family, for the lake and for a simpler time when we weren’t isolated and separated by a pandemic.
Pat, I hear you, I feel the same. What a nightmare. It’s as if we Americans have cooties in the eyes of the rest of the civilized world, and still, we’re flocking lemming-like to dangerous gatherings to better infect ourselves. Science is dead, hate is an every day occurrence. My single elderly friend told me yesterday it had been 4 months since she has gotten a hug (any kind of touch) from another human being. Authorities are warning our children will be harmed (social development) due to lack of school. I just read, before coming here, that the Trump admin is formulating a new message on Covid: it’s our new way of life, just live with it.
Holy freakin’ hell.
And yet, there’s a reason for hope. I have a saying: everywhere Trump s***s, flowers bloom. By modeling the worst in governance and humanity, he’s allowing us to rethink the course we were on. I pray the pendulum moves quickly. Best wishes and happy 4th, Sis.
Oh Lynne, I sure hope you are right that we are rethinking the course we are on and ready to make change for the better. To the outside world it is as if we have lost our way and other countries that once looked to us for leadership have lost trust in us all because of one evil man whose decisions have such far reaching repercussions. And hopefully the day where we can hug again will come soon. I think we can all use a hug right now.On that note hugs to you dear Sis.
Well said Pat! Happy 4th!
Thanks Dave. Looks like your lake and boat was busy on the 4th too.
Oh Pat! I didn’t get a chance to read this until AFTER I called complaining about everything you just wrote about. It’s like you were able to read my mind. Never before has my calm, cool, unruffled psyche been so angry, disappointed, scared, frustrated, you name it by what has been going on in this country. It is so disheartening. PLEASE everyone who reads this, be sure to vote November 3rd or before. We have to restore sanity and leadership to this broken, divided country.
It is a very difficult time for Americans and we can only hope that election in November will lead to change for the better. Never has the need for strong, sane, just leadership been greater.