Kathie Costos
May 28 2021
It is Memorial Day weekend and I always get reflective. My Dad and all my uncles, first generation Americans, fought in 2 wars. My husband's Dad and uncles, also first generation Americans, fought in WWII, and he fought in Vietnam.
They were all raised to understand how important it was to fight for something they believed in. They believed in this country. Each one of them paid a price for their service. Some of them lost buddies. Each year, we would go to parades and cemeteries to acknowledge their service. When I was young, I never thought about the day when I would to go cemeteries to visit their graves.
There is so much we can learn by what they did and what they did it for. They did it for each other, for their families and for the future. Please forgive me if the reflections I have had over the last few months bother you but considering how the majority of the American people feel, I am no different.
While this nation seems to be one way, the truth is, only some are. Those who want answers and accountability, are the majority, but for years everyone assumed I was a Republican because I associated with them in veterans groups. I never felt free to say what I believed. My job was to help veterans and families with PTSD and I was forced to put that first.
I had to listen to them saying how much they hated Democrats. Tell all kinds of lies they believed were true and then pretend that they were not political when they wanted new members.
The thing is, my Dad, my uncles were all Democrats. My Mom and aunts were. Yet I had to hear what the people I spent so much time with actually thought about the people I loved the most....sad. I had to listen to them talk about how much they would have hated the people I loved...and how much they would have hated me.
No matter what I did to help people, including them, none of that mattered as soon as I stopped being silent and said what I thought. None of them ever thought about how what they said all those years hurt me, or made me feel.
This is why today the featured video is Change, Christina Aguilera.
If you have PTSD, especially if you have PTSD, taking back your life means being able to speak your mind. Being free to express yourself is a real freedom and generation after generation of men and women risked their lives to protect that right. Some of them were Republican and some, like my family, were Democrats. None of that mattered when they were serving side by side and willing to die for those they were with. Today, somehow that changed into something I no longer recognize as such, especially after what happened at the Senate today when only 6 Republicans voted for the investigation into what happened when the Capital itself was attacked.
Freedom is empowering, but only if you use it. So when you hear someone in your life, talk about how much they hate, talk about those you loved and honor that love. Do it "for all the brave souls who went before us" and then, if necessary, walk away from them. You do not need that kind of oppression in your life. There was a time when I would have said to just set the political divide aside, but those days are long gone. One day, we may return to a time when differences made us stronger because we valued each other instead of constantly hearing how much we are hated for what we believe.
Remember, it is your life...get in and drive it!
This is how you #BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife
Change
Christina Aguilera
When I was young I would look in the mirror
Didn't know it then but now it couldn't be clearer
I remember being filled with such wonder
Before learning that the world could be harsher
Who
Who you love or the color of your skin
Or the place that you were born and grew up in
Shouldn't decide how you will be treated
Cause we're all the same when everybody's breathing
Waiting for a change to set us free
Waiting for the day when you can be you and I can be me
Waiting for hope to come around
Waiting for the day when hate is lost and love is found
Waiting for a change,
Waiting for a change
Change, change...
For all the brave and the souls who went before us
Stand tall be proud and lift your voices
Let 'em know who we are and our choices
And one day we won't have to sing this chorus
Waiting for a change to set us free
Waiting for the day when you can be you and I can be me
Waiting for hope to come around
Waiting for the day when hate is lost and love is found
Waiting for a change,
Waiting for a change
Change, change...
Hold on
Waiting for a change
Change
When I was young I would look in the mirror
Didn't see it then but now it couldn't be clearer
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Christina Aguilera / Martin Terefe / Jake Hagood / Florian Reutter
Change lyrics © West Eight Music Publishing, Super Big Music
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