Shouting Out To Teachers and Other Service Individuals, Including Police and Fire Officers, Teachers and Social Workers, Who Serve the American Public

“If you find faults with our country, make it a better one. If you're disappointed with the mistakes of government, join its ranks and work to correct them. Enlist in our armed forces. Become a teacher. Enter the ministry. Run for public office. Feed a hungry child. Teach an illiterate adult to read. Comfort the afflicted. Defend the rights of the oppressed. Our country will be the better, and you will be the happier. Because nothing brings greater happiness in life than to serve a cause greater than yourself.” -Senator McCain (2008)

It's a Monday. I'm heading back to the work I do in support of educators and K-12 schools and all who promote an American success of the diverse people who make this nation a miraculous one. I celebrate the individuals who wake up each and every day to serve the American people and believe in democracy, individuality, togetherness, and hard work.

Hard work. That's what I hope from each of us.

It was a Sunday and I know I wanted to take advantage of a beautiful day and, for the most part, I tried to adhere to the commitment. Still, there was a story to be written, some images I needed to share, and a publication I promised. This story was dedicated to so many committed to the democracy of the United States.

No hatred. No spite. Simply, the promotion of a better tomorrow through the educators who have dedicated their lives to promote the beauty of an American citizenry.

It seemed pertinent to draw on a Senator McCain quote. His alignment with Palin was odd, but his absolute dedication to the American mission has always been on my radar to believe in a better tomorrow for the red, white and blue.

The word integrity has always been at the forefront for me. It is an integrity I have seen in fellow teachers, but one I also admire and respect in my nephew, Dylan, who has dedicated his young life to the American mission for freedom, diversity, history and devotion of better possibilities for the greatest good. I want to believe in the integrity of my fellow men and women (knowing that hubris and sins often get in the way).

I'm kicking off my Monday crossing off to-do lists and making a few more. The world is full of noise and silliness, distractions and fools, but men and women of honor cannot be erased. They matter the most, and this is what I feel about the loss of Senator McCain, and an America I believe in.

I am standing with the men and women who work diligently to make the United States an amazing place - these are the people who also recognize that we are the people of a complicated world...our roots are pluralistic and arrive from the stories of many histories.

Here's to the potential of greatness, a round of applause for the good people, and a prayer for all those who get lost in the hateful rhetoric, misguided corruption, and irrational support for evil. 

Humans tend to suck. I hope, however, that the good ones - like McCain - rise to the top. Read. Think. Question. And do what is right. That is the privilege given to us as American citizens.