There’s No Turning Back Now

On 09-12-09 our Country came together in Washington, D.C. to protest our government.  I came back with renewed hope for my Country; I’m sure I am not alone in this renewed hope. During the trip I met scores of people from all walks of life and every corner of  this land.  Many people arrived without a plan.  They heard of  the march and felt compelled to be there.  It was like a scene from Close Encounters where everyone was driven by an inexplicable force to meet at Devil’s Mountain.  Not knowing exactly what to expect didn’t prevent them from understanding they just  had to be there. 

                                            The march was to begin at Freedom Plaza on Pennsylvania Avenue.  

 

 

 The route was a mile long down the avenue to the Capital.  At 8:30 a.m., Freedom Plaza itself was packed and overflowing into the street.   Some of those with our group  and I took up space across the street at the Wilson Building to wait for the rest our group.  This side of the street, we were told by volunteers, was not part of the area which the permit was covered.  14th Street also continued to allow vehicles.  I’m not sure if was part of the D.C. Police’ plans or not, but it became increasingly evident that their attempts to keep 14th Street open to traffic were futile and they closed it to vehicles.  From the steps of the Wilson building, as far as the eye could see up and down both Penn Ave and 14th Street, the people were pouring in from all directions.

Those who have ever been to a championship game of their favorite home team know the feeling of being among thousands of like minded people.  I have been to such a game and although the electricity is incredible, it pales in comparison to the energy of thousands upon thousands, perhaps millions (the count still isn’t finalized) of people in one place and of one heart… love of Country. 

I was not expecting to be overwhelmed with emotion and the tears on my cheeks caught me off guard.  When I turned to those beside me and saw their moistened faces I could no longer contain my feelings.  Until this day, I had been filled with anger at my government and fear for my Country.  Anger so strong and bottled that I had been snapping at those closest to me.  Anger so strong that I was learning what it felt like to hate.  That anger collided with love on Saturday and together they healed my broken soul.  I wasn’t alone.

One by one at different moments during the march each of us became overwhelmed with the emotion and energy of the crowd. We wept tears of happiness and tears of sorrow for our Country.  Until you have cried tears of love for your Country and tears of loss for your freedom it is impossible to understand why we marched; why we are so passionate for our beliefs; why we feel remorse for the direction our Country is heading.

On that beautiful day in D.C., we marched.  Young and old, healthy and infirm… we marched.  Kids with signs, kids in strollers, kids in costume.  Parents and grandparents.  People with walkers, canes, and wheelchairs.  We marched.  All came to Pennslyvania Avenue and made the mile long trek past office building windows filled with onlookers.  We marched with one mind… to stand at the Capital and roar with one voice that we have had enough.

 

And roar we did! One of the most incredible moments of the entire event took place a couple of blocks into the march.  From far behind me in the crowd I could hear a rumbling.  I wasn’t sure what the eerie sound was but as it drew closer my spirit leaped in recognition.  I let the first wave wash over me and move forward through the crowd as I listened to thousands of people chant, “U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A.”  With the next wave I joined in as we yelled in one accord, “You Lie! You Lie! You Lie!”   The raw pure emotion experienced in wave after wave of ever increasing crescendos of chanting was a liberating experience.

 

 

If you were to ask the marchers why they were there you would likely get  just as many diverse answers as there were creative, hand made signs.  If you were to question them further and inquire as to whose fault it is that our government has gone so far awry, the vast majority would point to themselves for allowing it.  This is where Washington has underestimated us.  We are awake now and we are watching.  Things will NEVER be the same.

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