I can't live in this country anymore.

[nuxvomica]

42. When I get to thinking that way, I think about my uncle Joe

He was a gangly teen-ager who cared mostly about when the new 78s arrived at the local record shop. He had lived through the Depression and signed up to fight Nazis in the war. He had caught a flesh wound during a battle somewhere in France but managed to carry his more seriously wounded buddy to safety. His buddy got the penicillin that was in short supply and uncle Joe didn't. His flesh wound became infected and he died over there.

I figure if I encounter half the hardship as that gangly teen-ager and still believe in America, I can meet the challenge. I never considered, though, that after all these years we would still be fighting Nazis. To paraphrase Max Erhmann, "With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful country."