Independence Day 2026
I like to joke that there are five things that make me the most patriotic: air shows, the Olympics, leaving the country and coming back, salads that involve no lettuce but copious amounts of mayonnaise, and Rocky IV. As I was reflecting on that list - all of which are true - I tried to discern what all of those items have in common. And as much as an air show and mayonnaise might not seem related, they are in how they engender an emotional response in me. When I was interviewing for my first job out of seminary, looking at moving to Colorado after five years in Virginia, the folks at Grace and St. Stephen’s took my family to a restaurant across the street from the church for lunch. When we sat down, we got water in those big plastic Pepsi cups - if you’ve lived in the Midwest for any amount of time, you know which ones I’m talking about. And my husband saw those cups and said to me, “I’m home.” It’s not that those cups are any better. It’s the emotional threads that they tie together. ...