Deborah Goodacre
Yes, September is a month to celebrate; no, not the return of cooler weather—I think we have a ways to go before we see that—but a time to celebrate the United States Constitution. It was created on Sept. 17, 1787, and ratified June 21, 1788. It is the framework for the creation of our government following our decision to separate from the mother country of England. The people of our country had had enough suppression, taxation, and lack of representation, to just sum it up. I find it hard to fathom what it was like to leave a country, struggle to move to a new one, create it, and then find you were still under the same thumb you had been under before you left.
So, once we declared our independence and won the Revolutionary War, the next great step was the building of the framework for our new country.
As difficult and contentious a process as it was, we owe a great deal to the minds of our forefathers who persisted and hashed out the wording as we know it today. Funny thing is, I doubt any of us know more than just the first three words of the preamble—We the People.
Maybe during this time of staying at home, we should not only catch up on long overdue congested cabinets and closets, but take time to look backwards to our founding years and review just how our great country came to be. As a member of the Daughters of Revolution (DAR) I, for one, am thankful for all my relatives did to aid in the process of obtaining our freedom. More about DAR in another article and just what constitutes being a Revolutionary War Patriot, but for now, if you go online and google Constitution Week, you can not only find the specifics of the Constitution, but also ways to celebrate including fun things to do, from coloring books to crossword puzzles, just to name a few. Perhaps you can play Constitution games on Zoom with each other or your grandchildren. Who knew that all the pain and efforts to gain our freedoms can turn out to be fun and educational? So, get busy and celebrate the great Constitution of the United States with your friends and family; have fun and keep the learning going.