Good morning, World! It’s Friday! (and the observed Independence Day holiday.)

I was in our nation’s Capitol on a mentoring mission in April and spent a little time at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History where I saw our nation’s Betsy Ross original in all its glory. Songs were written about that flag that still inspire us to think about how fortunate we are to live in the greatest country on earth.

This last week Carole and I peeked outside of the U.S. on a little milestone anniversary trip where we crossed into Canada on our way to Niagara Falls. Our navigation took us across the border but it did feel different, changing the speedometer settings to metric, fueling up at a gas station or grabbing a sandwich- it was subtle but enough to make me slightly uncomfortable and miss the comforts of home.

Over this expanded weekend, you’ll likely participate in a barbecue or watch some fireworks, maybe set some off, or wear some red, white and/or blue and hopefully … relax.

Letting your guard down seems so easy and so natural but it was only a little over two centuries ago where we didn’t have that luxury of saying what we thought, driving where we prefer, earning as much as we aspire to, worshiping to our belief or taking a little break without fear of unwarranted retribution.

We enjoy a tremendous number of freedoms today in this country. As you celebrate this weekend, pause for a moment to reflect on how fortunate we are, how hard fought our freedom was originally won and the number of times in this country’s short life we’ve had to defend it. Thank an armed forces member for their service and sacrifice on this Independence Day weekend.

Have a blessed weekend.