Freedom
Just standing at Churchill Downs watching videos of thundering Thoroughbreds kicking up dirt, chests heaving as they race to the finish line was a thrill. The hats and fanciness for a 2-minute Kentucky Derby race doesn't seem so silly now.
A road trip can change your perception or remind you of the things that are good in our country. There are still people who flag you down because your tire is flat or small town policemen who pull you over to give directions because any out-of-towner must be lost. We sat next to old men fishing on the Ohio River, watching fireworks together on the third of July. They said fireworks on the river was the most beautiful thing they had ever seen and it is even bigger at Derby time.
There were best friends who have gone through the joys and pains of life together giggling over clothes at Unclaimed Baggage in Scotsboro, Alabama and people in Lexington, Kentucky lined up around the block for a slice of pie in the Pie Festival. In Louisville, Jerry's "junk" is a chaotic, unintentional museum that takes up the block behind his house and five other houses around town. He started collecting his treasures 50 years and is most proud of the Statue of Liberty he remodeled into the face of President Nixon.
In the hollers of Mingo County, West Virginia, every person is a Hatfield or McCoy and most are coal miners who spend much of their lives on their sides underground pulling coal out of the mountains. A few men and women who grew up there became activists going up against the still-powerful coal companies and even their neighbors to protect Blair Mountain and share the brutal history that politicians tried for years to hide. A 12-year fight ended last week and Blair Mountain is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, forever protecting the historic mountain from mining. They are proud to be an example that people can still stand up for what is right and win.
Today I met Tina, a special education teacher and single mother raising an autistic child. She is also running for the House of Representatives in Kentucky because she says it is time for her to stop waiting for someone else to do something. She wants to give people a voice again.
Monte went back home toe Matewan to take care of his mother dying of cancer but is now fighting it himself, refusing to give up on life.
James lost his wife, Phyllis, to cancer two years, six months and five days ago. He goes to English Cemetery every day to visit and put flowers on her grave. The engraving of the creek on the stone was from her favorite place behind their house.
On the Natural Bridge in Kentucky, we met a family from Cincinnati who was afraid of heights and had never been camping There because their son came home from Xavier University and wanted to go, for one night they fought off bugs and the fear of bears, laughing and yelling the whole time.
242 years of independence. We still haven't perfected freedom, democracy, or uniting and along, but we still laugh, take care of each other, and stand up for what we believe in. I have hope for our people. There is no other place I would rather be.
