By Way of Introduction

"I STOOD HUMBLY ATOP THE WORLD TODAY

AT THE TOMB OF THE UKNOWN SOLDIER,

SHOCKED THAT THIS HONOR HAD COME MY WAY..."

Greetings from my 17-year-old self, living her dream at...Arlington National Cemetery?!

Indeed.

As a Canoga Park High School 11th grader, Air Force Junior ROTC cadet, and young woman aiming high at medical school and astronaut training at the time, with all my heart I wanted nothing more intensly than to be chosen to participate in the wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

For years afterwards, I carried that folded little handwritten slip of paper I'd drawn from the hat announcing "You're a Winner!" around in my wallet.

More precious than one of Willy Wonka's golden tickets, that tiny piece of paper launched me in to the world.

(I actually have the 1971 Sylmar earthquake to thank for shaking me loose into life a few weeks early, but that is another story.)

"PROUD MARINE STANDING TALL NEXT TO TOM AND ME ON HIS RIGHT,

ARLINGTON IN ITS GLORY FILLED MY SIGHT

AT THE TOMB OF THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER..."

Arlington soon becomes Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's final resting place.

Arlington was on my mind one week ago, when I covered the nearest candlelight vigil for Justice Ginsburg, who died on 18 September 2020 at age 87 upon serving more than 27 years as Supreme Court Justice.

"WE LAID A WREATH OF FLOWERS ON THE GROUND,

AND I PRAYED THAT PEACE FOR THESE MEN HAD BEEN FOUND

AT THE TOMB OF THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER..."

I was traveling with a group of teens from all over Los Angeles who had competed for coveted scholarship spots sponsored by Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, to participate there in a national teen leadership conference, visit Independence Hall in Philadelphia (where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed), stay at Fort McHenry in Baltimore (where Francis Scott Key penned 'The Star Spangled Banner'), and tour historic sites and the government center of Washington, D.C. -- all while connecting with teens from across the country and expanding, solidifying and challenging our knowledge and practical understanding of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship essential to maintaining a democracy.

As Justice Ginsburg lay in state at the Capitol last week, I reimagined being 17 and sitting once again on those very steps, literally looking up in awe. For someone who had grown up on Schoolhouse Rock, personally experiencing the iconic places central to the founding, history, and governing of this country made me feel that I, too, belonged and would make my contribution to guaranteeing the success of our democracy-in-progress. In 1993, Justice Ginsburg became a towering beacon -- not only for young women like myself --who lit the way by tirelessly pursuing justice.

Missing Visual Memories

Had the majority of my personal photos not been destroyed in an apartment building fire in 2012, I'd be sharing with you here our visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. I remember holding my breath as Michael, one student in our group, sought the name of a close family member. I finally exhaled as he began to trace his uncle's name on to paper with charcoal. Many years later, I re-enacted this kind of tracing at a Berlin deportation memorial while leading a group of high school students visiting from Colorado.

Below, you'll see a photo I snapped from the bus window while entering Valley Forge. To my great surprise years later, I discovered a similar statue in Berlin of the very same Baron von Steuben, a Prussian originally from Magdeburg, Germany, who became a Major General in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War and trained American troops here on Valley Forge fields his statue gazes upon. More on transatlantic relations and Friedrich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand Freiherr von Steuben another time!

"THE BUGLER PLAYED 'TAPS' FOR ALL TO HEAR,

AND AS MY HEART BURST INSIDE, I SHED A SOLITARY TEAR

AT THE TOMB OF THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER..."

As our week-long journey concluded at Arlington and we boarded our bus to Dulles Airport, I scooped up the shards of my heart and of my mind that had been blown by this collective learning experience. Notebook and pen in hand, I gathered inner sparks during the entire cross-country flight back to Los Angeles, composing the poem I am sharing with you here. Mrs. Dorothy Raye, our chaperone and former president of the Freedom's Foundation Los Angeles chapter, sat beside me on that flight, encouraging each expression and each revision, until I was able to conclude that...

"IN THAT SILENT MOMENT, IT BECAME CLEAR TO ME

THAT THE PRESERVATION OF FREEDOM IS MY RESPONSIBILITY."

May the memory of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Yita Ruchel bat Tzirel (1933 - 2020), and that of my mentor, role model and dear friend, Mrs. Dorothy Gilmore Raye (1922 - 2003), be for a blessing! It is upon me and it is upon all of us, together, to continue their legacies of civic engagement and service for the greater good.

VOTE.