Some Thoughts on the Fourth of July

Ah yes... there I go thinking again. But as we approach the Fourth of July, I think it's interesting to approach the celebration from another perspective.

I have some clients who are Japanese. His mother saw the mushroom cloud from the bomb at Hiroshima out her window before he was born. They grew up in post-war Japan, which couldn't have been pleasant. They came here legally, built a business, raised their children, and have built a life here. And they're absolutely delightful folks and I'm blessed to have them as clients and as friends.

She and I chat when I'm there working, and there's rarely a time when she doesn't tell me how grateful they are that America is such a welcoming country, and how they didn't sense that the welcoming changed, even after the horror of 9/11. How thankful they are that they've been able to work hard, save, and have a good life for themselves and their children. How they're trying to bring others over from Japan and other countries, legally, to have the same opportunity.

They work hard, have a successful business, and pay their taxes just like the rest of us. And they appreciate the chance to do so.

It just strikes me that so many people who were born here take all this for granted. They bitch and moan all the time about how tough they have it instead of looking at the opportunity around them.

So I think, as we celebrate our country this year, those of us who have been fortunate enough to be born here need to look at it through the eyes of my Japanese friends for a few minutes and see what they see.

It could give some of us a new perspective on things. I know it did for me.