When Did You Feel Most Patriotic?

Happy Fourth of July, everybody. I wasn’t really planning on doing much of a blog post today–it’s a holiday, after all. But I did want to throw something up here. A collective question to you all–when did you feel most patriotic? I’m talking about a specific time/day.

For me, there are two days that I remember distinctly. The first is right after 9/11. I was reading gas meters at the time in Utah, and every house had an American flag out. Those things were everywhere, and I remember just thinking how proud I was of our country–that things could go so wrong, and we could come together to be unified. I would imagine a lot of other people felt the same back then.

But the time that sticks out in my memory the most was a high school football game in October of 1997. It might have been November. I was already graduated by then, but I was at home waiting to go on my mission to Germany. I went to the game, and as they played the Star Spangled Banner, I had an epiphany: I was leaving this country. Not for a week or two, but for two years. For a nineteen year old kid, that was a pretty daunting realization. And I recognized for a bit just how big a part America played in my life. Yes, it’s not like I had my life on the line for my country, but it was a strong enough experience that I still remember it, fifteen years later.

So how about you? Any particular times stand out? Please share. And have a safe and happy Fourth of July.