I’m out of the country right now, visiting my roots.
It is part of who I am. It is not essential, but it is an important part of what “makes me.”
The familiar sounds, smells, and faces stir old memories. Forty years ago I stepped off a plane as a nineteen-year-old into a new life. Today I stand as a citizen who has traveled this entire country, raised a family, paid taxes, and sworn the oath with full conviction.
This visit does not pull me backward. It pushes me forward — deeper into my American identity. Seeing the contrast only sharpens my gratitude. My allegiance to this nation, built on Western foundations by settlers and immigrants who came ready to build, grows stronger with every day away.
Roots remind me where I started. America showed me where I belong.
Big events are unfolding — elections, foreign affairs, fiscal responsibility, stewardship of the house we all share. I’ll speak on them when I return, with clearer eyes and renewed conviction.
Until then:
Accountability. Assimilation. Allegiance.
This is the only way immigration works. Anything less is betrayal of the gift, of the fallen, and of the dream.
LIVE GRATEFUL 🇺🇸
(It starts in The Spine NOT on your Knees.)
– A Grateful Immigrant
(From the road, June 2026)
Grateful Immigrant 