During this past year, I have had the privilege of traveling from the East Coast to the West Coast of the United States.  Sometimes I take for granted the freedom that I have in being able to travel so freely within the confines of my country.  And what a gorgeous and complex country we have!  I enjoyed the view that unfolded with each mile, but I also found myself looking down the road to see what might come up next.  I imagined what the explorers might have experienced when they set foot in a new landscape or territory.  I wondered how they felt to have seen some of the same sights I was seeing!  To have experienced walking in the same area where, in 1607, our country's first 104 settlers arrived in Jamestown, Virginia, by ship, along with those people who were already inhabitants of this land, gave me a new insight to the beginning of our country.  Then, in 2015, I am whisked back to the present day where I sit in my comfortable car, and trudge along with thousands of my fellow Americans through the congestion of crowded highways. 

In touring the battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, I am  transformed to July 1, 1863, when the battle began, to  absorb the conflict that sent brother against brother, each defending their cause and the horrors that divided our nation.  I am then humbled to see the healing that  began to bring our land back to One Nation.  

To be able to witness the contrast between the stormy, gray Atlantic Ocean with the sunny, surf-breaking beach on the Pacific Ocean and it's breathtaking sunsets, is awe-inspiring. 

Whether riding through the timber-laden Smoky mountains or the majestic mist-cloaked allure of the Cascades, I have to remind myself that this is the country I was born to and I am thankful to be able to enjoy what those who came before me set out to do.  I am grateful to those settlers, explorers, survivors of all the adversity that they encountered and the stories they passed down through the course of time.  What they endured are all a part of our history that made up this great country and it behooves us all to be grateful that they were willing to go through what they did to give us what we now have. 

After these experiences it struck me, what is our part in this story as we look down the road?  What will we leave to those who are coming behind us?  As we gather together in the coming days with family and friends, let your stories flow around your tables and living rooms.  Leave your legacy to a grateful future.