Dear editor,

I don’t know if I’ll actually send this letter in as it’s being typed out of basically emotion; but if you are reading it, then I guess I sent it in. Gee, that’s logical isn’t it?

Anyway in a previous letter I referred to patriotism as reflected 30 to 40 years ago. Although I wasn’t talking just about patriotism, I did make the comment that, in my opinion, ones commitment, of lack of, is often consistent with their commitment to God.

These thoughts again came to me as I watched a compilation of patriotic songs from the Lawrence Welk era. Perhaps that dates me as many of you reading this letter probably never heard of Lawrence Welk and if you do recognize the name and the music, perhaps even fewer of you relish the music quite as I do.

But, in listening to the many familiar strains of music from those eras it again reminds me, as I look out upon the hills surrounding Ellisforde, how very lucky I am and are you, that we live in a land where I am free to express my joys, frustrations, likes and dislikes and not have to be worried about a knock on the door at midnight, opening it, only to be drug off to some prison camp never to be heard from again.

No, we live in a land that isn’t perfect; but it is a far better land than any other of which I know and I’m proud to be a citizen of this nation. I’m proud to be able to know, and respect, those many service personnel, some whom have died on shores far from this continent and those who have served and come back, granting me the opportunity to live and breath in this land of opportunity.

Granted, there are lands that grant a variety of freedoms but none as plenteous as we experience here. The planners of the constitution believed, as do I, that one’s religious commitment and their support and participation of the land in which we live demands an active participation and a studious involvement in the structure of what our nation becomes.

A song, just being sung with words that I’m sure are familiar to many is: “When you walk in the dark of a storm, hold your head up high and never be afraid.” And so, I share with you my thoughts that only as we commit or re-commit our allegiance to God will our nation again become what the founding fathers felt and believed it should be. When that takes place, or even as it takes place, we can hold our heads high and never be afraid.

Randy Middleton

Tonasket