An American

In this episode - An American . . .

"We will lead not merely by the example of our power but by the power of our example." U.S. President, Joe Biden

Are you an American? Unlike many of you, my mother and I immigrated to the United States as French Citizens.

We were considered Aliens! How do I know that? Easy, every year we were required to go to our local Post Office and complete an Alien Registration Form.

Growing up in a small Midwestern town, like you, my formative school years were devoted to reading, writing, and arithmetic AND learning to speak English. Also, I vividly remember each morning reciting; "I Pledge of Allegiance to the United States of America . . ."

As a Cub Scout, we also recited the scout motto; "A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent."

Little did I realize at that time how those time-honored words and traditions would affect my work ethic, my character, my values, and my future.

As an immigrant, the pure joy of growing up in a free country allowed its people to become whatever they set their hearts and minds upon.

We witnessed America's birth of the Space Program, the explosion of technology that advanced communications, watched men walk on the Moon, the expansion of Television that brought the world into our homes. In many ways, it didn't seem real. It all seemed fabricated somehow. All viewed from a wooden box with a black tube.

I've always wondered, do children ever grasp the concept of what's real on TV and what's fabricated? Who knows?

All I know is, our community affected my childhood development much more than I realized during my formative years. I was becoming an American.

But for my family, there was another world outside that tiny neighborhood. The much larger world of La Rochelle, France, my mothers' town. That "other world" was proven when I uncovered the bundles of French handwritten letters my mother had treasured and kept to herself all those years.

As children, we would board a very large plane and make the trip back to France about every 5 years. Mom insisted on it. Dad however never returned to France after his military service ended.

We would step off the plane into the arms of her brother and his wife. To see her blossom and be free of that alien mask was an awakening for me. Unlike me or any other in our immediate family, her formative years were as a French citizen. 

However, it was 1974 when my mother and I both stood before a Judge and accepted the Oath of Citizenship to finally say, "We are Americans."

So, what did it mean to become an American?

Looking back now, it was an opportunity that no other country offers, the freedom to reinvent oneself whenever the need arose, and the security of living in a democracy that values the will of the people.

God bless America!

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I'm Patrick Ball; thanks for listening. See you in the next episode.