While putting my five-year-old daughter to bed earlier this week, I asked her what she did in school. “We said the Pledge of Allegiance, daddy,” she told me, “do you want to hear it?”
I did.
For the next 15 minutes or so, we talked about the Pledge, and in particular, the words and what they mean. It was, for me, an almost overwhelming experience, combining love of family, love of country, love of learning, all suffused with an ebullient sense of joy and optimism.
To hear my daughter describe “justice”—“being fair to everybody”—to be able to tell her what “liberty” means and why it’s important, and why we’re so fortunate to be in a country founded on these principles and values—it’s difficult to imagine a more complete or more fulfilling experience.
When we were done, and it was time for her to go to bed, she had a final observation for me. “Daddy,” she said, “I bet it’s really hard to become president.”
“It is, honey,” I told her, “but it’s possible.”
She smiled and closed her eyes, holding her favorite stuffed animal gently in her arms.
I kissed her forehead softly and slipped out the door, leaving her with her dreams and plans, and reminding me—once again—why I feel so hopeful about our country’s future.