For the life of me I cannot find the local who sent me this e-mail, but I have an idea it was from a female. That said . . .
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Americans rarely get a chance to see another country’s editorial about the USA. Read this excerpt from a Romanian newspaper. The article was written by Mr. Cornell Nistorescu and published under the title ‘C’ntarea Americii? (meaning ‘Ode to America.?) on September 24, 2002 in the Romanian newspaper Evenimentul zilei (‘The Daily Event? or ‘News of the Day.?)
An Ode to America
Why are Americans so united? They would not resemble one another — even if you painted them all one color! They speak all the languages of the world and form an astonishing mixture of civilizations and religious beliefs. Still, the Americans? tragedy turned three hundred million people into a ‘hand put on the heart?.
Nobody rushed to accuse the White House, the army, or the Secret Service that they are only a bunch of losers. Nobody rushed to empty their bank accounts. Nobody rushed out onto the streets nearby to gape about. The Americans volunteered to donate blood and to give a helping hand.
After the first moments of panic they raised their flag over the smoking ruins, putting on T-shirts, caps and ties in the colors of their national flag. They placed flags on buildings and cars as if in every place and on every car, a government official or the President was passing. On every occasion they started singing their traditional song ‘God Bless America!?
I watched the live broadcasts and rerun after rerun for hours, listening to the story of the guy who went down one hundred floors with a woman in her wheelchair without knowing who she was; or the Californian hockey player who gave his life fighting with the terrorist and preventing the plane from hitting on target, that could have killed another hundreds or thousands of people.
How on earth were they able to respond, united as one human being?
Imperceptible — with every word and musical note — the memory of some, turned into a modern myth of tragic heroes. And with every phone call, millions and millions of dollars were put in a collection aimed at rewarding not a man or a family, but a spirit, which no money can buy.
What on earth can unite the Americans in such a way? Their land? Their galloping history? Their economic power? Money? I tried for hours to find an answer, humming songs and murmuring phrases – with the risk of sounding commonplace.
I thought things over, but I reached only one conclusion . . . Only freedom can work such miracles!
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Right on Mr. Cornell Nistorescu! And, lady, thanks for sending it along.
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Anybody want to guess if the price of fire wood is going down this year?
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While the world around us was shimmering under crystalline ice, cold and without power, Jen, the boys and myself had all the power and heat we needed.
I attribute this to Jen filling up the bathtub with water the night prior to the storm. We split wood for the fireplace and bought some extra flashlight batteries, just to be on the safe side.
Shamus and Sean went into a minor panic when the cable television blacked out for five minutes, but other than that, being prepared worked great for us.
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The aftermath — we’re entering thunderstorm and severe weather time, which means gusty winds. Were I outside during this time, I’d keep my head up for all those broken-during-the-icestorm-but-not yet-fallen branches.
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