We don’t need to remind you that this year has been unlike any other.
We are distancing ourselves socially and on high alert for an invisible enemy that continues to sicken people statewide and nationally as we all push on with measures to fight it.
The killing of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer has sparked outrage and protests, some that have turned violent, prompting an international wave of voices calling for changes in police use-of-force tactics and an end to what protesters say is a long history of institutional racism.
Whether students will be back in school come August is still undecided and the fates of high school, college and professional sports for this year still hang in the balance as millions of people are out of work.
The year 2020 will never be forgotten.
This week we celebrate the birth of this great nation, and in doing so, remember that as a country we are stronger than a virus or our sometimes checkered past.
Since the pandemic began, thousands of brave medical workers have literally risked their lives in some cases to care for the hundreds of thousands of hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Their strength in the face of adversity and their resolve to persevere are the qualities we as Americans have relied upon for centuries to make the United States the best country on Earth.
Amid the pandemic, millions of Americans have practiced their constitutional rights to speak freely, assemble and air their grievances about problems they see as systemic in this country. Regardless of your views about the protests or the changes they seek, the freedoms we are guaranteed by our constitution that allow the protests, specifically those in the First Amendment, are the cornerstones of what make America so special.
Our founding fathers may not have been perfect. They may have held beliefs and in some cases acted in ways that today are antiquated and no longer accepted. But their vision for a country in which all people are created equal and in which everyone has a God-given right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is as relevant today as it ever was.
We may often disagree as a nation about how things should be done, and that is OK. Those disagreements spark discussion, which leads to understanding and compromise, which only makes America stronger.
Our world may feel a little out of whack right now, but this weekend as we observe Independence Day, celebrate our rights, celebrate our differences, celebrate our strength and resolve, and remember how great it is to be American.