Independence & Liberty

It's Fourth of July weekend, which means a four-day weekend, if you're lucky. I'm not quite that lucky. I do have three days off, Sunday and Wednesday like every week, and Tuesday for the holiday. So my four-day weekend has a one day interruption on Monday, but it'll still feel like a long weekend by the time I return to my routine on Thursday.

More importantly than four days off, however, is the reason for the long weekend. It's a reason you must never forget.

It all began 230 years ago, when the brave founders of this great nation formally declared freedom from the British crown. But like anything worth having, it wasn't quite that simple. People fought. People died. They fought and died because they believed in the cause of Liberty. They risked their lives to be free. Many died so that others might be free. So that you would be free.

America's brave men and women have never given up that fight. They know the value of freedom, and hold it so dear that they want to share it with the world. They have fought throughout history to defend the cause of freedom against tyranny. They fight today to spread liberty to other countries.

If you are one of those brave men or women who have answered the call for liberty, Thank You and God Bless You! For the rest of you, be thankful this Independence Day. Thankful for those who made it a day worth celebrating.

Joe