By Danielle Rehor

What is patriotism? If you are anything like me, you cannot even spell patriotism. Sad, but true. Perhaps patriotism, to you, means pride in your country, maybe devotion in a cause. In my opinion, patriotism is the act of supporting your homeland. It’s a part of you, and should make you want to change it for the better.

I do not know if you remember how old you were or even what year it occurred, but I know you remember where you were when you heard the towers had been hit. I was in my first- grade class. I didn’t even know where the twin towers were at the time. I remember wondering why my teacher suddenly left the class and gave us busy work. Then later on in the day we watched the news channel, and had a moment of silence.

This event causing great patriotism was Sept. 11. When a disaster this momentous occurs, it brings a nation closer together. We mourned together, prayed together, rebuilt together and got stronger together.

So why is that not the case now? Don’t give poor excuses like the economy or our government. It does not bother me if you do not particularly care for something about our country. Believe me, I am the same way at times. But, I do believe as a whole our country’s patriotism is greatly lacking.

We live in a country that has been blessed beyond belief. Whenever I think of Sept. 11, it makes me reconsider all I have. This country is safer than a lot of places, we have a trustworthy government and a place I can sleep without worries. It’s going to be our generation’s nation soon. Our generation is the future of America. It’s our responsibility to see what is coming down the pike and do something.

We are in an economic crisis. Yeah? There was one in the 30s. Are we going to all starve and die? Nope, I am not planning on it anyway. We are going to struggle through, make it, survive, and then prosper.

Our nation needs to be restored back to a humble, hardworking yet proud country, just like in the 50s. We had just been on the winning side of WWII. We were in some economic trouble, yes. But we were proud of the soldiers that had fought and died fighting for our country. We were ready to start fresh and be better than ever.

We are not in the best of times economically and socially speaking, but we need to stand up for our government, back them up even if you do not always support their ways. It is a matter of pure respect.

We should respect our leaders, even if we cannot stand them. Probably a hard pill for most of us to swallow. I know you are thinking, ‘Well if I don’t like them I’m not going to give them the time of day.’ But we have to play the hand of cards we are given, even if that means shooting for the moon.

There are always going to be good guys and bad guys. Leaders are always going to make some bad decisions. This doesn’t mean we give up and scorn our country. We strive to be proud Americans with pride for our country.

Here are a few songs to get your patriotic blood flowing and inspire you to become more loyal today.

• “Made in America” by Toby Keith
• “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)” by Alan Jackson
• “American Soldier” by Toby Keith
• “God Bless the U.S.A” by Lee Greenwood
• “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue” by Lee Greenwood
• “Where the Stars and Stripes And the Eagle Fly” by Aaron Tippin