MINE BLOGGLED

DO YOU REMEMBER THE DAY LONG AGO ON THE PODIUM OF THE OLYMPICS WHEN TWO MEDALISTS RAISED THEIR ARMS AND HANDS IN SOLIDARITY. I DO............ I SAT QUIETLY AFRAID TO CHEER. AS A YOUTH I HAD WATCHED, TRULY AGHAST IN HORROR, IN BLACK AND WHITE, THE CRUELTY THAT WAS INFLICTED IN THE NAME OF FREEDOM? WHOSE FREEDOM I WONDERED? IN THE LAND OF THE FREE AND HOME OF THE BRAVE, WHO WERE THE FREE, AND WHO WERE THE BRAVE? I WAS ORDERED NOT TO BEFRIEND ANY OF YOUR KIND. SO I DID, AND I BROUGHT YOU HOME WITH ME, AND I STOOD DEFIANTLY IN OUR KITCHEN, MY HEAD HELD HIGH AND MY FISTS CLENCHED. THIS IS MY FRIEND WILLARD I SAID PROUDLY. THAT DAY WAS THE DAY I MADE MY STAND. IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN MY STAND, AND I HAVE WATCHED AND WORKED QUIETLY SUPPORTIVELY. RIDDING MYSELF OF THOSE WHO CARRIED THE OLD BANNERS OF BIGOTRY. I NOW WATCH THE NEWS IN COLOR NOT BLACK AND WHITE. I AM NO LONGER AFRAID TO CHEER. . YET I AM A QUIET ONE.