Commissioner Cook was invited to speak and read a patriotic poem by the Avery Ranch HOA, and here she is reading Independence Day by an unknown author. (Select Read More for poem.)
So the whole world would see -
This was, "the home of the brave
And the land of the free"
They signed that piece of parchment
The leaders of this land -
Knowing, divided they would fall
But, together they could stand
A new world lay before them
Untamed from shore to shore -
They swore they would protect it
If it meant going to war
Battles have been fought -
And many lives have been lost -
So sad something so basic
Has such a high, high cost
'Seems freedom is a luxury
There's some would bind us all -
Like then, together, we can stand
But divided, we will fall
More than two hundred years
Have passed by since that day
That each of us celebrate
In our own different way
We should be proud and thankful
Pay our share of the cost -
Not take freedom for granted
For it easily could be lost
In the 20th Century,
They turned to us with plea
They too tired of oppression
And wanting to be free.
We heard their cries for assistance
Their calls for help we’d heed
We’re not only brave at home
But unite to help those lands in need.
Now in the 21st Century
We’re feeling weary of the load
The needs of others are greater
Feels like the world’s going to explode.
Can we endure meeting our needs and theirs?
Can we sacrifice hearts and mind
helping both them and us?
Are we the keepers of mankind?
Now from the famous words of President Thomas J. Whitmore:
Mankind – that word should have a new meaning for all of us today.
We cannot be consumed by our petty differences anymore.
We should be united in our common interests.
Perhaps it’s fate, today is the 3rd of July and we once again are thinking about our freedom –
Not from tyranny, oppression or persecution, but of movement, thought, beliefs.
We’re thinking of our gift to live, to exist on this great day and to celebrate tomorrow the 4th of July, our greatest of American holidays, those sacrifices made so that we can declare with one voice:
We will not go quietly into the night,
We will not vanish without a fight,
We’ll continue to share with others
The greatness that is America.
Tomorrow we celebrate our independence day!