As I watched my old flag being retired this afternoon at the local VFW, I smiled as I remembered all the past  events that I have seen and made me proud to be an American during the past year under that waving banner.

I watched the SpaceX launch from a laptop on the front porch.
I read about the confirmation of the Higgs Boson particle being proven at CERN.
All the times I weeded the front flower beds with her waving above me keeping me out of the blistering sun.
I looked through my telescope at Mars, far off in the night sky, as Americans landed on the surface with the rover.
I worked on homework for the first time in quite a while as she shaded me.
I opened a letter from my school saying that I had made all A’s.
My father and I sat had a real conversation, that lasted for more than 3 minutes for the first time since my mother passed.
So..as I stood at attention in my freshly pressed dress uniform along side of the rest of the VFW, all these wonderful memories passed through my head. I love this flag. I love all that it stands for. I may not like the leaders of the country at the moment. But like everything else, they will pass.
The flag will still be there.