I think it was 1988 when I had my Star-Spangled experienceā¦my husband and I were riding along the Potomac at daybreakā¦he wanted to take pictures of the monuments in that lightā¦
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As I looked across the riverā¦morning mists still risingā¦I could suddenly feel the battleā¦I could see what Francis Scott Key sawā¦I felt the anticipationā¦and exhilarationā¦as he quickly penned our National Anthem once he could indeed see the flag still flying after a night of battleā¦
It was a movingā¦life changing experienceā¦Iāve cherished that morning for over 20 yearsā¦until that timeā¦I hate to admitā¦the phrase I mostly associated with the National Anthem wasā¦Play Ballā¦at the endā¦
Butā¦no moreā¦I never hear it played that I donāt remember that morningā¦and the ghosts of battle I feltā¦
So you can imagine my chagrin this morningā¦as I did a little research for this blogā¦and I realizedā¦that I should have paid more attention in History classā¦that battle was on the Chesapeake Bayā¦Baltimore, Marylandā¦not Washington, D.Cā¦
Yupā¦thatās rightā¦my National Anthem moment was totally misguidedā¦
Orā¦was itā¦in that momentā¦I truly understood the importance of being an Americanā¦of the struggle and sacrifice made by so many othersā¦mostly people I will never knowā¦just so I have the privilege of being who I choose to beā¦
Soā¦regardless of my historical faux pasā¦I want to thank the brave men and womenā¦past and presentā¦who have risked their lives to answer the questionā¦Yesā¦Mr. Keyā¦that star-spangled banner yet wavesā¦oāer the land of the freeā¦and the home of the braveā¦
Jane
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