Heartfelt Oregon request. Please share your “Thankful to be an American” story

By Jason Williams
Taxpayers Association of Oregon

It is a deeply personal project of mine that I intend to celebrate America’s 250th birthday next year by getting 1,000 Oregonians to share their personal stories on why they are thankful to be an American.

Make no mistake, others will use America’s 250th birthday next year as a call to recite every bad thing ever done as a way to attack our cherished nation.   Is that how you celebrate your child’s birthday, as a cause to recite every shameful thing they ever did?

America has been good to you.  Please return the favor by sharing why you are thankful.

Oregonians seeing other Oregonians be thankful is rare, and unexpected and is something that will touch people in a profound way.

This is why this project will work.

This Thanksgiving, please share a few sentences on why you love America by submitting here or emailing me at [email protected]. We will compile and share the stories next summer.

Here are a few samples:

“When returning to the USA from living in Europe, one of the first things I noticed was the proud display of American flags. Not only on civic buildings, as is usual in European countries, but on homes, cars, displays of many kinds. All representing the honor we Americans feel to live in the greatest country in the world”
— Priscilla Warren,
Beaverton

“My dad grew up dirt poor from two alcoholic parents with all the odds stacked against him in life. He lied about his age to get into the Navy. Some of my earliest memories are of us living in a tiny trailer, with dad and pregnant mom sleeping on a single bed and me sleeping on a shelf. Between school and his evening job, Dad would stop at the city dump and recover whatever lumber he could find, to build our first house, a 20×24 single room. His amazing resourcefulness over the decades made him millions and a modern American Dream rags-to-riches story. In America we can achieve the impossible.”
— Gary Coe,
Portland

“My Italian grandparents came through Ellis Island, leaving their homeland where there was little opportunity to own property or escape the life of working for a landlord. in Oregon, my grandfather started a fruit truck from scratch and drove around neighborhoods selling produce. That little fruit truck was his path to buying his first property… then a second… then he bought buildings. He exceeded his dreams beyond imagination, thanks to America.”
— Rosalie Williams,
Portland

Please use this Thanksgiving as a call to bless your nation and inspire other people.