The other day I wrote about America and me sharing our birthdays. and after seeing our Old Glory proudly waving each time I'm another year older, you'd think by now I'd be used to it, but I'm not. The truth of it is, I am quite happy while waving our flag.

This year when my birthday calendar rolled over again, I wrote about not just the rights our Declaration of Independence spells out, but the responsibility and gratitude we will always owe it.

More than any other part of the Declaration, we're probably more familiar with the "life, liberty and pursuit of happiness part of it. But comfort zones, even the ones we carry around in our heads don't do much more than that, But they keep us from ever finding out how powerful our faith and mental valor is.

This year someone gave me a DVD movie for my birthday, and told me they were sure I would enjoy watching it. So I did, and "The Pursuit of Happyness" was so good I almost used up a box of tissues while watching it.

It was the American Dream all over again. The father and son in it didn't clear fertile land, or fight off wild animals almost bare handed. But they did take on challenges and odds I hope you and I never have to war with. What got them through was the same sprit and determination, and reaching for a dream that early Americans brought here with them., and their willingness to put up with whatever they had to, to accomplish them.

When the movie ended, and my tears had dried a little, I understood something better than I had before. As important as the man in the movies' reasons for succeeding were, and they were; the trail he followed with his little son, and all that happened on it, was just as valuable to them. and the next time I am walking on a very scarey trail, I will remember that.