Take the high road

On Memorial Day, President Barack Obama reminded us that our nation “endures because it has always been home to men and women who are willing to give their all … to preserve and protect this land that we love.” Memorial Day is one of my cherished American holidays, and I treasure my fortune to be a free American.

I survived the atrocities of Hitler, the regime of Stalin, and I remember the bloody corpses, the fire and dust of destroyed homes, cold, hunger, displacement, the loss of my father.

Today, artificial schisms and concocted scandals distract us, and political opponents attempt to undermine the president in every way. Meanwhile, real issues – jobs, Syria, natural disasters, immigration, sexual assaults in the military – are made to wait.

Let us take the high road. Let’s unite, as we did after Sept. 11, 2001. Let’s employ millions of Americans to build that new energy economy and fix our cities, our schools and the nation’s crumbling infrastructure. Let’s transcend our divisions, let us rally and let us once more, as Americans always have, “give our all” for the America we love.

Halina Slobodow

Spokane