A touch of patriotism

Remember when the Berlin wall came down? Remember being glued to our television sets watching the footage of East German young people scrambling to the top of that symbol of division and disunity while others worked with chisels and hammers to chip away at it? Remember the astonishing sight of guards standing by as spectators watching throngs of people stream through the gates?

I often heard people refer the fall of the Berlin wall as an event that is burned on our collective memory. But I don't remember that. I did not have those scenes in my memory bank because I didn't see that footage.

We were living overseas in November 1989 without television or radio. My husband was a teacher, I was the librarian and our kids were students in an English school in the Dominican Republic. We didn't feel isolated because we did have regular communication with friends and family back home, but somehow we had not heard anything about the fall of the Iron Curtain. It wasn't until several weeks later when the Time magazine arrived on my desk featuring one of the iconic Berlin Wall photos on the front cover. Rather shocking to see how the world had changed so drastically.

Today I had an opportunity to fill in some of the gaps in my memory of world history. We visited the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. The first thing we saw (and photographed) was a piece of the Berlin Wall. I began to pay attention. Sure enough, there were video clips of the famous speech "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" as well as footage of the amazing days when the wall did indeed come down. I learned a lot today - about how some of the pieces fit together leading up to that phenomenon.

All through the museum, there were other fun and educational things. Highlights for me included being able to visit the Oval Office and to walk through Air Force One. Oh, and I finally got to learn how in the world those teleprompter things work. That was kinda' cool.

It was a good day. An educational day. A patriotic day. A day of gratitude for freedom.

It did not need to be a day about politics. After the assassination attempt as the surgeon was about to remove the bullet from his brain, President Reagan quipped that he hoped the doctor was a Republican. The doctor quietly replied, "We are all Republicans today, Mr. President."

I like seeing people come together in compassion and hope and good-will. I am grateful to live in a world where that still happens. And I am inspired to do what I can to improve the chances of it happening more often.