Dateline: over Nashville 8:30am CST
"Wheee...we're flying," the child by the window excitedly said in glee, as our plane took off from Nashville Friday morning.
"Mama, it's the ocean!" The child continued in exuberance, "There's islands!"
The mother of the young girl gently said,"I think it's a lake."
"I'm not scared," the girl bravely said as the plane to,Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina continued its ascent.
Susan Price, Gold Star Marine mom and Doug Hagmann begin their,"National Insecurity" seminar,tonight, and my husband and I didn't want to miss it, being Marine parents ourselves, and concerned patriotic Americans.
We stayed on the plane in Nashville where we flew in,from Kansas City before this second leg to Raleigh-Durham. Passengers got off, others boarded, and the mother daughter duo changed seats, and another mother duo replaced them next to me.
The efficient progress of American travelers in the "coach" class, having all taken off jackets, shoes (albeit now with some age related exceptions), and gone through TSA security lines, checked our baggage, or carried on tools of today, laptops, smart phones, or even Kindles carried by children such as the young twenty something mother and probably eight year old girl on the first leg of my trip who both had Kindles. Although, a doll the young girl carried was giving the Kindle a run for its money attention wise.
The planes run efficiently despite TSA restrictions, with most passengers having printed at home their boarding passes, and even made their reservations as I did, on a computer, smart phone or tablet device.
"I want to look out the window," the child said, adding, "Why are we going so fast mama?"
The child's voice was not whining or annoying, the mother not shrill in response, and I was fascinated by our American future as I sat on my flight.
The mother and child are our future. The first mother and daughter were black, or African-American perhaps, with so many nationalities of Americans, I would not want to assign them to the wrong continent. The second mother and daughter were Caucasian if I had to guess, but for all I know, they were from the African continent.
My only point in mentioning nationality, is that I saw these young mothers and young children as our future.
Bright inquisitive children, and mothers apparently raising them the right way.
In today's America the one that I live in at least, we move seamlessly between races, I treated both mothers and daughters with the same degree of respect. I felt no animosity to either, in fact, they both represent our future, my future.
"Can we go swimming in it?," the child asked, looking out the window at lakes and rivers below as the plane began its climb.
"Probably not," the mom said, "We're so high up everything looks little."
As I read the in-flight magazine, there was a full page ad for "50 years of the Civil Rights Movement."
The ad was illustrated at the top with historic photos making the numbers for the year "1963", against an all black page. 1963-2013 it read. Then, "Civil Rights Movement Birmingham, Alabama".
I was only about four then, when, as the ad said, "1963-the year the world woke up."
I think of today's world, today's America and all the recent scandals: NSA gathering of phone records, the spying by the government on reporters, the IRS scandal, Benghazi scandal, Afghanistan scandal and others.
The various agencies of the U.S. government and the current administration, the going after the Tea Party. Patriot groups being targeted by the U.S. government
The ad stared back at me on the flight: "1963: The year the world woke up."
The ad described, "An afternoon at a lunch counter. A thousand arms linked at the elbow. A line of fire hoses. A pack of German Shepherds. A letter from a Birmingham jail. A devastating explosion. A world that would never be the same. The year was 1963, and as the whole world watched, events in Birmingham sparked the beginning of the end of a centuries-long struggle for freedom. In the year leading up to the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the city's most courageous citizens fought for a world where we could all live as equals. And now, we celebrate their courage, their strength, their defiance-and their hard won fight over oppression."
The ad suggests visiting prominent landmarks and monuments of the era.
It ends with, "Walk in the footsteps of the citizens who changed the world forever."
I thought, will the American citizens of 2013 be remembered in 50 years as in,1963, "When the world woke up?"
For the young girls who sat on my row during,the two legs of the flight, about six or seven years old, what will America be like in 50 years?
I'll be in Raleigh-Durham Friday night for the first night of the "National Insecurity" seminar featuring Gold Star Marine Mom Susan Price, and Doug and Joe Hagmann.
The child's questions continued with the mother trying to patiently supply answers.
By now the child by the window started experiencing ear pain as they started popping. Even so, the child said, "God made me."
The child asked her mother, between cries of, "My ears hurt," "Did you know God made me?"
The trip down wasn't as happy as the trip up. The trip down for this child and others on this flight consisted of cries. On my row and throughout the plane and in nearby seats, voices cried out, "My ears hurt," and, "It hurts," as babies cried.
The mothers are making "shhh-ig" sounds as the plane drops in altitude, and as the landing approaches, distractions by mothers are made to take the focus off the pain. The mother next to me read the "safety information" brochure to her child, telling what to do in an emergency: how to get out, how to survive.
The child is back to asking questions. A description of life savers and flotation devices ensues.
It all somehow seems to make clear our situation in America as we went up full of hope, looking for a change, but the way down is painful and may even be an emergency or crash landing.
We're landing now in Raleigh-Durham, the "National Insecurity" seminar hours away.
The child says, "Read it again," of the emergency instructions, but the mother, kissing the child's head, says, "No, we'll take a little break, it's time to get off now."
The seminar awaits as Susan and Doug try to prepare America for our landing.
Marijane Green, Marine Mom of a Marine veteran of Iraq war and mother of active duty Marine who served in the Afghanistan war.
Associated links for more information:
Susan Price, 'National Insecurity' Seminar:
priceforjustice.com
Birmingham commemoration & information from ad:
[url=http://www.50yearsforward.com]http://www.50yearsforward.com[/url]
[url=http://www.birmingham.travel]http://www.birmingham.travel[/url]
