Patriotism: One Lawyer’s Definition

While in my kitchen making early morning coffee on September 11, 2001, I turned on the television for some news. For the next several hours, along with millions of others, I watched the increasing crescendo of horror unfold on the east coast. After that terrible day was over, my feelings of shock, anger, grief and sorrow were on the surface for so many weeks. Even today those feelings are still just beneath the surface. Like many Americans, I still continue to grapple with the reality that some people hate us so much that they can and will commit suicide just to kill us. But, through all of the shifting emotions and international events of recent times, there is one emotion of which I am very certain. I have never loved my country more.

My patriotism was never defined in the same terms as that of my parents and their contemporaries who fought World War II and got to be called the Greatest Generation.

I got to be called a Baby Boomer and it wasn’t too clear what my generation would ultimately be known for-certainly nothing really noble such as saving the world from fascism-something my father who was a soldier in France and Germany liked to remind me of as I was growing up. My fellow Boomers and I would be known for the excesses of the 60’s, disco fever in the 70’s, pop psychology of the 80’s, and a 90’s business boom followed by a dot.com bust, softening economy, and disappointing 401(k)’s resulting in everyone’s retirement plans being pushed back by a few years.

As a young Boomer, I protested Viet Nam and I challenged authority just like so many others of my generation. I even went to Woodstock. For me, going to law school was part of the continuum of social justice expression. The Greatest Generation members of my family wondered about me over the years as I exercised my First Amendment rights for various causes.

I still do partake of constitutionally protected activities, as we all should on a regular basis, but since 9/11 I’m likely to wave an American flag while doing so. That’s a big change for me. I like it, too. Also, my aging relatives approve.

As an aging Boomer but a new flag waver, I’ve been wondering how I can now express my patriotism best in this post-9/11 world. I think I’ve found a way that works for me. Watching the news in recent months, I’ve been concerned that our country has lost so much good will within the international community. We’ve lost a few friends in Europe and we’re eating Freedom Fries, for example. Although the French are certainly fun to make fun of and God knows they deserve it, I can’t help but wonder if we shouldn’t re-think how we are viewed by other countries.

So, I’m reaching out to the international community. In the spirit of “let’s invite the neighbors over and make friends,” I decided to invite an exchange student to live in my home for a year. This August, a 16-year-old girl from Germany will move into the spare bedroom of my home. I’ll be her American Mom for the year. She’ll be my Euro Daughter. She’ll also be a Junior in an American high school.

Roslind is a brave and courageous teen to leave her family, her country and her familiar surroundings to come live with Americans for a year. Maybe I’m brave and courageous, too, for taking on a teenager. I remember how I was in those days (Woodstock) and the--surviving Greatest Generation members of my family will certainly have a few laughs at my expense. An independent, bold, adventuresome teen-ager is coming to my home. This is cosmic payback.

But this fall when Roslind and I are struggling over her English and American History homework assignments in the evenings, we’ll talk to each other about where international peace and understanding really begin-in the home. I’ll be sure to tell her how I’m truly honored that she chose my home, too. She said in her exchange student application that she didn’t know just yet but might want to be a lawyer someday. I look forward to hearing her ideas on what Americans should and should not do in the world. I can hardly wait to tell her all about the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and all the Amendments. And, you can be sure we’ll go out and exercise some First Amendment rights in the coming year.