Page 44 - ShowSight - July 2019
P. 44

                 FROM THE EXECUTIVE EDITOR EMERITUS
 On being a
CHILD IN AMERICA
There’s a reason that the symbol of our sport’s highest prize is encolored as it is; to Americans, nothing outranks red, white & blue...
Each year at this time I’m tempted to write what this country means to me, to my friends, to my dogs, to my dreams and to my life. It’s a valiant if impossible task, to distill so much into a small space; there are so many things I’d say.
I’d talk about my childhood with its many ups and downs, all of which were really ups compared to kids in other lands. I’d speak of friends from other lands, how they found a home here, how they got a chance to thrive, how they got a chance to breathe. I’d talk about the obstacles we never had to face, and I’d talk about the chance to smile we face with each new day. I’d talk about my love of dogs and how this country lets me indulge it. There’s many things I’d say; I hope they’re things you feel. I feel compelled to shower praise on a country that’s so good.
But then the summer storm-clouds loom; I think of things that aren’t. In my mind I see dogs without homes and homes without dogs. I see waves of legislation threatening to drown our future dreams. In my mind I also see people unable to eat; I see people unable to heal; I see people unable to live without fear or without pain. I see people without homes; I see people without hope. As my fingers start to fly across the keys to say these things, my spirits take a dive no eagle’d gladly undertake. But if one did, he/she’d soon stop the downward course; he’d flare his wings against the wind and rise again, and soar. As my spirits do every time I read the words that each of us hold dear:
“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands; one Nation, under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.”
And I remind myself that none of this is beyond repair, it can all be fixed. And once again I find the strength to face another day. Just as I did, as a child in America, hand on my heart, eyes on the Flag, luck, totally, on my side.
 Here’s wishing you a very happy Fourth of July.
38 • ShowSight Magazine, July 2019
Joseph Neil McGinnis III Founder, ShowSight Magazine
PHOTO CA 1993 BY RICK ORTEGA






















































































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