Singing Side by Side to Kick Off America's 250th

There are moments that catch you off guard with how full they make your heart feel. Standing on stage at our town's Spring Concert this season, with my children beside me, was one of them.

Our community gathered to mark the beginning of something big: 250 years of America. A quarter of a millennium of this grand, imperfect, hopeful experiment in freedom. And what better way to open the celebration than with voices joined together in song.

I have sung in plenty of choirs over the years. But singing shoulder to shoulder with my own kids was different. They stood right next to me, hitting their notes, watching our Choir Director, caught up in the same music I was. Every so often I would glance their way with a little grin, and I would feel that tug only a parent knows.

The songs we chose carried weight. They reflected on the faith and freedom that have shaped this country from its earliest days. As we sang, I found myself thinking about all the generations who came before us, the ones who hoped and worked and prayed for a future they would never see. We are part of that long story now. So are our children.

That is what made the night so meaningful for me. It was not just a performance. It was a passing of something down. The values, the gratitude, the sense that we belong to something larger than ourselves. My kids may not have understood every layer of it in that moment, but they will carry the memory. And someday, maybe, they will stand somewhere with their own children and feel the same thing.

As we step into this milestone year, I am grateful for our town, for the neighbors who showed up, and most of all for the chance to share that stage with the two people I love most.

Here is to 250 years, and to all the songs still left to sing.