It’s a simple artwork today. I wanted to create a pattern as if there were footprints in the dirt. I remember singing this one in the 6th grade Bi-Centennial Celebration at Wiesbroook Elementary School. It was 1976 and everything felt very grand, and patriotic, and full of energy. Here are the words:
When Johnny comes marching home again
– Louis Lambert (pseudonym for Patrick S. Gilmore) 1863
Hurrah! Hurrah!
When Johnny comes marching home again
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The men will cheer, the boys will shout
The ladies they will all turn out.
And we’ll all feel gay when
Johnny comes marching home!
As I wrote this one, it hit me that the people were celebrating the return of soldiers from The Civil War. It was still in the midst of terrible fighting, and no one knew if the one they loved would return home safely. The battles weren’t over yet, peace was not across the land. I imagine that this was written right after the Battle at Gettysburg, July 1 – July 3, 1863. There were over 53k casualties – 23k Union, 28k Confederate in that three day period. It was the most decisive battle and the turning point for the Civil War.
Horrible, bloody, and many families were wiped out as their sons would not return home.
I can picture the people lining the streets shouting, cheering, hopeful that the man they loved would return to them…no matter his condition. The men marching were probably glad to hear support and cheers, ready for things to end. We fought as a country – divided over many things including slavery – and would eventually come together to become a great nation.
It is more than 160 years later and we still can feel divided as a nation. Yet….and I hope you can hear me here….we are a fabulous place to live, grow, work, and raise a family. YES, we have our problems – politics, the economy, our financial woes, even racial strife….YET, I would cheer loudly and proudly for any service people marching down my street. I am proud to be an American – warts and all – and am blessed to have grown up in this country.
Maybe it is more close to home as I am in Japan writing this post. Life here is different, the culture is different, and the freedoms we have at home are not the same here. This is an incredible country – years of culture, traditions, majesty, mores – and I learn something new every time I visit. I am reminded that everyone takes pride in their homeland. Be it Western, Eastern or European…we all are who we are because of where we grew up and how live.
So let us give thanks for the men and women who have fought for our freedoms. Let us give thanks that a plane ride can take us across the globe to see family AND celebrate, learn and understand other cultures. And let us ALWAYS be glad to go home.
Keep humming along…more sing-a-long tunes tomorrow!
