Ashland woman's visit to Pennsylvania provides hope that America will mend itself
To the Editor:
The Fourth of July. A bad day for concerned citizens turned into a bad week.
Despite Trump’s repetitious lies, Biden’s debate performance was abysmal, with lapses in focus and meandering sentences that did nothing to reassure a voting public
Beyond the debate, Supreme Court decisions arrived. Regulators lost much of their abilities to protect citizens, placing decisions into the hands of judges who are unlikely to be aware of the nuances of an agency’s responsibilities.
In another Supreme Court decision, bribery was, in essence, acceptable as long as the payoff came after the “negotiated” service. Money talks, even louder.
Finally, the court gave all presidents a “get out of jail” free card.
Essentially, the president can be “above the law,” breaking traditions established since the origin of our nation.
Such news is depressing.
Visiting our son and his family in Jacobus, Pennsylvania, softened some concern. Jacobus is a small town where family homes line Main Street and the local Lions Club sponsors a Fourth of July picnic.
One granddaughter was doing $5 henna designs for her Girl Scout troop while the younger granddaughter was waiting for her father to buy her deep fried pickles and a funnel cake.
A band played oldies and a 12-year old was singing the lyrics to “My Girl.” The Lions Club offered blood pressure checks and the local church sold sweet goodies. We bought My Father’s Dragon, Ferdinand and a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle at the library book sale.
A couple from a nearby community sat with us for conversation, and convinced us to try the deep fried vegetables.
Afterward, I stood in the middle of the crowd of young and old, of teenaged couples, of a playground for the little ones, of a display of classic cars, of people with canes, of couples pulling wagons with curly-headed tots — and sighed.
As my son approached, I tried to convey my emotions. “All this, all this. I don’t want to lose it.”
“You won’t,” he said. “It will right itself.”
Later, sitting on a bench under a 30-foot oak tree, a Lions Club member chatted about planting this tree as a 12-foot sapling 25 years ago. The concept of preparing and planning for the future of our country and its citizens started in Philadelphia many years ago. The future must still be protected.
And, yes, there were fireworks.
Linda C. Schreiber
Ashland
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Ashland woman writes that small-town Fourth of July event offers hope
