We are going to be just fine as a nation.  How do I know… because the old lady tells us so.  Never been to visit the Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island… until yesterday.  With a brief winter thaw here on the East Coast… drove south… along the Hudson River, hopped a ferryboat and landed on the Island that was the first American soil immigrants got to touch so many years ago.  Then, boarded the boat and headed over into the middle of the River… gateway to the ocean below New York City and stepped onto the hallowed ground of the Statue of Liberty.  My two year old daughter kept raising her arm in the air and point her index finger and saying, “Lady Livvertee!”

     It caught on with a group of people who were near my family and suddenly we were all doing it… the kids, the adults:  Throwing our right arms into the air and pretending to hold a torch by extending our fingers while shouting her name “Lady Liberty!”

      And, for just a moment– a moment that lasted all day for me– we all looked into each others faces.  Complete strangers with a smile and a nod– acknowledging WE ARE AMERICANS.  And, we will be okay.  We will be better than ever.  This is our land.

      Thought that feeling might wear off– it hasn’t.  Before I left for work this morning, my little one– still a bit sleepy… kissed me goodbye.  And, as I headed out the front door she said, “Mommy wait!”  She threw her arm into the air and again reminded me of our battle cry our freedom chant, “Lady Livvertee!”  (she’s still working on her b’s!)

   We are free.  And, we will rise again.