WOW! What can I say about the feeling I have for my country and the show of such great Patriotism by our fellow countrymen. Words are unable to adequately describe how I felt, but I will tell you what we did.

I am an aerobic instructor at a Christus Schumpert Wellness Center. I teach a Sr. Fitness Class and we all decided we wanted to participate in this run. One of our ladies is 79 yr. old and is a WW2 Navy Wave Veteran. Others have lived through that time of our nation's history and wanted to show how they felt about our flag and country.

So we decided to go for it. We registered and got everyone together. We decided we could make 1 mile together as a team. I decided to bring 2 of my daughters, Sarah, age 16 and Rachael, age 13. They had a friend Brandy, 15, to come as well. I wanted them to experience for themselves pride in their country.

The big day arrived and I wish I could descirbe the exitement we all felt as we waited for the flag to come to us. We kept saying, "Can you believe we are going to do this?!" We were pumped with anticipation, so ready to recieve our country's symbol of freedom.

Some would just walk it a bit, others jogged, still others from our class helped by being ready at the end of our mile to pick us up. Most all of us got to carry the flag. What a thrilling moment that was. Tears in some of their eyes, lumps in our throats, pride, and fierce determination to carry on freedom in America.

I suppose that could be the sum of what we did on Friday, Oct. 26th, 2001. We did our little part to say to the world that we will NOT be defeated. That the "Freedom Flag" still waves over this country. That with God's Blessing, Freedom will still be "carried on" thoughout our country.

May God continue to bless America.

Debbie Roeten
Shreveport, Louisiana

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