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Country Strong, America Strong

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I have a confession…

There was a time – ok, check that – throughout my entire life, I’ve looked upon “country” as “hick”.

I associated it with rednecks, overly accentuated twangy accents, pickup trucks with rifles in the back window supported by deer hoofs, chewing tobacco, less than 32 teeth, trailer park homes adorned with Confederate flags accompanied by rusted appliances on front lawns consisting of stones, dandelions and broken glass.

The music (I thought) was predictable and honky tonk – odes to bad relationships, dogs that moved on and all of the above.

Yee-Haw!

I was wrong.

Grand Ole Opry WWOn Tuesday I was treated to the most honest performance these eyes have ever witnessed, these ears have ever absorbed, at The Grand Ole Opry. The players included Vince Gill, Trace Adkins, Kellie Pickler, Craig Morgan, The Gatlin Brothers and Lee Greenwood. I had never heard a single song they played until the last one.

Yet it was the best concert I have ever attended.

That last song was Greenwood’s “Proud to be an American”, one we’ve heard frequently at M&T Bank Stadium just prior to “The Star Spangled Banner”. Only this time the lyrics were heavier – they resonated for me like never before for there among us, in the audience, on stage and backstage, were men who served.

Some were wounded.

Some had their legs torn from their bodies.

But there they were – the proud and the few.

A few even performed.

On their own the Wounded Warriors’ performances were incredibly inspiring but hardly breathtaking. Yet their determination, perseverance and unwavering will took away the audience’s collective breath.

The concert was life altering. It was THE defining moment of my trip to Music City.

And while the talents upon that stage were reminders of goodness, selflessness, kindness, generousness and so much more, they also served as a microcosm of what “country” is all about.

Their heartfelt pride in “country” – our country, was a reminder of all that is good in the United States of America. “Country” is a throwback to the way things used to be. Things were simpler – the way it should be and could be again.

For some this might just sound nostalgic – and that may be true.

But what’s wrong with that?

I remember a scene from Mad Men as Don Draper gave one of his famous dog and pony presentations. He described “nostalgia”.

Nostalgia – it’s delicate, but potent. Teddy told me that in Greek, “nostalgia” literally means “the pain from an old wound.” It’s a twinge in your heart far more powerful than memory alone. This device isn’t a spaceship, it’s a time machine. It goes backwards, and forwards… it takes us to a place where we ache to go again. It’s not called the wheel, it’s called the carousel. It let’s us travel the way a child travels – around and around, and back home again, to a place where we know are loved.

“Country” in many ways is nostalgia and on that special night, the old wounds were on full display. The broken bodies of those who preserve our freedoms; those who make such nights possible; those without whom “country” would exist only in history books; those brave men, stood before us and knew they were loved from the incredibly genuine affection, from the blessed performers who each told a story that “twinged” all of our hearts.

And as Draper described it was indeed far more powerful than memory alone.

During the show’s intermission I spotted a soldier in the lobby donned in full combat camo fatigues. I left my place in the concession line, walked over to him, looked him in the eye, and with the firmest of handshakes I could muster I said, “Thank you.”

He matched the handshake and then some; reached with his other hand to further embrace the shake, looked at me with glistening eyes and said, “Thank YOU sir!”

I was so humbled.

Two simple words that meant so much to him – fully understanding that his sacrifices could possibly land him in a wheelchair without his appendages (or worse), which could then alter his life and those lives of his family forever.

Yet he thanks me just for acknowledging his commitment and selflessness.

I will never, ever forget it.

Nor that night that changed me at The Grand Ole Opry.

Here’s to “Country Strong”.

Here’s to “America Strong” – the greatest on the planet.

Please remember those who have enabled it this Memorial Day Weekend.

God bless you and God bless The United States of America.

https://youtu.be/WHTfMdZ2Ugw

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