By the Dawn's Early Light

The original Star-Spangled Banner

I think it was 1988 when I had my Star-Spangled experience…my husband and I were riding along the Potomac at daybreak…he wanted to take pictures of the monuments in that light…

As I looked across the river…morning mists still rising…I could suddenly feel the battle…I could see what Francis Scott Key saw…I felt the anticipation…and exhilaration…as he quickly penned our National Anthem once he could indeed see the flag still flying after a night of battle…

It was a moving…life changing experience…I’ve cherished that morning for over 20 years…until that time…I hate to admit…the phrase I mostly associated with the National Anthem was…Play Ball…at the end…

But…no more…I never hear it played that I don’t remember that morning…and the ghosts of battle I felt…

So you can imagine my chagrin this morning…as I did a little research for this blog…and I realized…that I should have paid more attention in History class…that battle was on the Chesapeake Bay…Baltimore, Maryland…not Washington, D.C…

Yup…that’s right…my National Anthem moment was totally misguided…

Or…was it…in that moment…I truly understood the importance of being an American…of the struggle and sacrifice made by so many others…mostly people I will never know…just so I have the privilege of being who I choose to be…

So…regardless of my historical faux pas…I want to thank the brave men and women…past and present…who have risked their lives to answer the question…Yes…Mr. Key…that star-spangled banner yet waves…o’er the land of the free…and the home of the brave…

Jane