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A Fourth that I'll always remember
johnny2k.blogspot.com — Nobody in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, will ever forget the flood in 2008. Unfortunately, it isn't the memory most of us will really appreciate. Most of would want to forget all about the misery and destruction. However, there is something we can cling to - and we're not talking about guns and Bibles. We cling to the love we have of our Freedom.
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- brad3378, on 07/04/2008, -0/+5Best wishes towards a speedy recovery in Iowa.
- johnny2k, on 07/06/2008, -0/+1Brad, my friend, you're awesome. Thank you very much!
Yeah, it's pretty tough here in Cedar Rapids. Took a ride through downtown Cedar Rapids tonight - where ground zero of the flood was. It was pretty devastating, but wow, things are getting better every day.
And yet, many lives have been tragically affected, and most of us here certainly understand that. Yes, even I lost my job because of the flood, but for me it was a totally different situation. When it came right down to it, everyone was affected in one way or another.
Yes, the normal 4th of July celebrations in this area were very subdued. It is because nobody could say that they didn't know anyone else that had something bad happen; we all knew somebody that either lost their job or their home, or both. I can only say that there was a large sense of sorrow like I've not ever seen, not even after 9/11.
But what I did to celebrate the 4th was very uplifting. I had a good friend of mine over, and it took a lot of convincing, but got 'er done. My friend Ron, who lost his wife a little over a year ago, came over, and we had a great time. We grilled out, we watch some fireworks, talked, listened to some music, and forgot about out troubles for a little while. It was the best thing we COULD do! It was all about making a choice to be happy, to make the best of our situations.
Hey, not only did I convince Ron to come over, I think I even got him to believe that attitude is a choice. While it wasn't easy, we eventually got talking about all the things that we could still be thankful for. There were people out there going through the worst things of their lives, losing everything, yet they were able to find something to be positive about - they were thankful to still be alive, I guess....
For Christians, and maybe for any other religions, it was the greatest opportunity for doing what we could do to help each other out, whether by financial support or moral support. I was glad to hear that there was a Buddist group in Cedar Rapids that helped out a lot of people, Christian churches in Cedar Rapids were responsible for helping to evacuate thousands of people that may have perished when the city began flooding by going door to door, because the police couldn't get it done by themselves. A lot of people have been touched by the efforts of various religious groups, mostly Christian of course, but everyone that could, and cared, has been pitching in however they could.
I'm not ready to write off the City of Cedar Rapids, the state of Iowa, or even this country. Most of all, I'm not ready to write off our freedom. This is why I celebrated on July 4th, America's birthday, what is called Independence Day with all ferverence that I could! And spending the time with a very special friend on Friday, and time with my family Saturday night, was the best thing that I could have done.
I can't wait until the fireworks show NEXT year!
- johnny2k, on 07/06/2008, -0/+1Brad, my friend, you're awesome. Thank you very much!
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