Arrived in Kansas City, Missouri and then took a taxi to the state of Kansas, which took over an hour. The driver and I had time to talk about where he was from and how excited he was to be an American citizen. The tall Ethiopian young man had graduated from college in Ethiopia with an engineer degree and had won the lottery to be able to come to the United States of America. He felt he could have a better life in the United States. He arrived here about 8 years ago and lived in the Washington D.C. area for 4 years. His cousin encouraged him to move to Kansas City where it was more affordable to live. This energetic man is going to college in Kansas City and providing for his parents and two sisters and three brothers back in Africa.
The sacrifices that this person has made to have a better life always encourages me to be excel as an individual. To learn a different language; to adjust to a different culture and to be 8,000 miles from family and friend says a lot about his character and integrity.
Once again, I have taken my American citizenship for granted. I forget about the sacrifices that men/women have fought so that I can be the person that I am and to do what I do.
This evening I am looking at life a little different and thankful for this great country that I live in!
7 comments:
We natural born US citizens are extremely fortunate!!
I agree that far too many of us take our US citizenship for granted. We have what most other people only dream about.
Yeah I think at times I take being an Aussie for granted we have such a wonderful country and at times I forget that there are countries that do not have it as good as we have it here
Yes, we are. We sometimes forget what we have.
Everyday I count my blessings for the country that I live in!
We are very fortunate to have the freedom that we have. We do take it for granted.
We are very fortunate to have the freedom that we have. We do take it for granted.
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