Becoming an American citizen remains one of the proudest moments of my life.
It wasn’t just a certificate or a ceremony. It was the freedom to build a life. The freedom to start a business. The freedom to publish this newspaper without fear. The freedom to celebrate the people, businesses, artists, volunteers, and organizations that make Wheat Ridge such a remarkable place to call home.
Sometimes we spend so much time talking about what America isn’t that we forget to appreciate what it is.
That thought came rushing back as I read this year’s winning Lou Olivera Citizenship Scholarship essay by Wheat Ridge resident Isabella Urban. Isabella wrote about what citizenship means through the journey of her ancestors Her essay reminded me that the American story has never belonged to just one group of people. It belongs to everyone willing to contribute to it.
Recently, I also attended one of the City’s Inclusion Diversity Equity and Accessibility Committee meetings. As I listened to residents speak openly, it struck me how extraordinary that really is. Imagine trying that in Iran. Or Syria. Or standing during a Moscow city council meeting holding a sign demanding the government change its policies. Try being gay in Pakistan.
Think about the proclamations our City Council begins with.Celebrating cultures, ethnic groups, LGBTQ communities. How about the programs offered by our recreation centers. The clubs and organizations in our schools. The thousands of opinions shared every day on social media. We take these freedoms for granted because they’ve always been there.
For 250 years, America hasn’t had a perfect journey. Far from it.
There have been wars and elections. Triumphs and tragedies. Miracles and mistakes. Inventions that changed the world and decisions we’d rather forget. Every generation has argued about the direction of this country. That’s part of being free.
But every generation also had people who kept pushing forward simply because they could.
That brings me to my friend, Dom.
Dom never asked the world to change for him. He showed up. He volunteered. He supported local businesses. He cared about this community. He fed us story ideas, celebrated every new business that opened, and wanted to know about every local hero we featured. He’d call out businesses that didn’t treat people fairly, but he never asked us to write about himself.
When he tried to stop a shoplifter at Safeway and lost his job, he didn’t become bitter. He kept showing up. He kept believing in people.
He kept pushing because he could.
Maybe that’s what has made America great for 250 years. Not that we’ve always gotten it right, but that ordinary people kept moving us forward. They built businesses. They invented things. They volunteered. They spoke their minds. They stood up for their neighbors. They refused to quit.
This July, as America celebrates 250 glorious years, I hope we take a moment to appreciate not only where we’ve been, but the freedoms we still enjoy every single day—and the people like Dom who remind us what citizenship and community really look like.
From California to the New York Island. From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters.
This land was made for you and me.
As always…. Thanks for reading.
