by Michele Bolton
Originally published in November of 2007 in the Sentinel
From the beginning, I've had an overwhelming desire to instill patriotism in my children. Love and respect of our nation and how it came to be have ever been a vital part of our curriculum. Yet how do you get your kids to want to be a part of something bigger-to be proud to be an American?
The answer came one Memorial Day, when I took my kids to a National Cemetery. I wanted them to get a feel for what price had been paid for the freedom they enjoyed. Okay, my son was only six and my daughter just 6 months old, but still, it's never too early to learn.
The place was packed-we parked in a field away from the ceremonies. People of all ages were roaming around exhibits of uniforms, stands that honored units, and assembled groups of veteran buddies. The air boomed with noise from loudspeakers as the crowd remembered: Flanders Field, Iwo Jima, Hanoi, Baghdad.
Most touching to me were the bent figures wearing immaculate uniforms, caps proclaiming their service perched on their gray heads. These often sat in silence, remembering, sometimes with a tear. Many, too, would come up to me and flirt charmingly with my daughter, and pat my son conspiratorially on the head. It was if they owned a piece of my children- and they did. Their sacrifice and service had given them a claim to all of America-we are now because they did what was needed in their time.
I realized that day that patriotism comes from being immersed in the lives of patriots. It's not just in studying those who came before, though that's important, but in recognizing the men and women of today and their contributions. I get very emotional whenever I see a uniform hanging proudly on those who believe in duty to country and encourage my kids to speak to these wonderful people, to know their stories and to learn from them.
I realized that day that patriotism comes from being immersed in the lives of patriots. It's not just in studying those who came before, though that's important, but in recognizing the men and women of today and their contributions. I get very emotional whenever I see a uniform hanging proudly on those who believe in duty to country and encourage my kids to speak to these wonderful people, to know their stories and to learn from them.
And my son wants to be one of them. His great- grandfather, grandfather, and uncle have all served in the Navy. He's been on aircraft carriers, to museums and cemeteries, to shrines and presidential libraries, and he recognizes the legacy handed to him. Mind, his mother tells him to serve God first (read "mission") and then go as the Spirit guides him. But I stand proud to know that the past passes the baton to the future with the burning flame of freedom within. It is what truly "secure(s) the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity." A precious lesson is learned on what it means truly to be an American.
A small group of homeschoolers in California visited the March Air Force Base where veterans talked to them about World War II.
About the Author
Michele Bolton has spent most of her life in Southern California. She served a Spanish-speaking mission in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, is married to her "young pup" of a husband, Kenneth, an RM that served in Uruguay, and has (at the current time) two sweet children, ages 12 and 8. She's been homeschooling for four years and is admittedly still a neophyte (Hey, education is an eternal principle, and she's just getting started!). She loves reading (and reading, and reading), writing, gardening, baking goodies for her husband and making her kids giggle.