Proud to be an American

From the back seat of the boat I watched him as he peered over his shoulder every few seconds, looking up into the sky with a smile on his face. As I watched him, I secretly cried behind my three dollar Miley Cyrus sunglasses. It was a good cry though. One full of pride. I tried not to cry, I wanted to play it cool. But I have a big heart and just a few moments before, the strings attached to the bottom of it were violently yanked on and the flood gates came open. He didn't see me cry. Phew---he teases me for being so soft but also tells me how much he loves me for that.



I quickly wiped the tears that had managed to run down under my glasses and replayed what I had just witnessed in my head for the 3rd or 4th time. I know that he must have been too because every time he turned around, I am sure that he was praying for the jets to fly by again.



It was Monday, the day after the 4th of July. We had spent the weekend at Lake Powell in Southern Utah. We were tired, sun burnt, and bruised, but as we headed back to the marina to load the boat, we took in the last few miles of beautiful scenery we had been a part of all weekend. As I started to doze off on the squishy back seat, the relaxing peace was put to a halt by a very excited husband.



"LOOK BABE, LOOK AT THE JETS!"



At that moment, two very handsome USAF fighter jets flew over top of us down through the canyon. Twisting and turning. It was almost as if they were playing a game of tag. The were so close to us, maybe 60 yards above us. And so loud. Nellis AFB in Las Vegas is not far from Lake Powell, and from what I understand, the pilots will fly through the twists and turns of the lake's steep canyons for practice.



It was an amazing site. I couldn't help but smile watching them and feeling proud to be an American. This minor event in my life is one that I will never forget. I hope you all had a safe and happy 4th of July weekend!