Down For The Ride (Jonathan Toews)

Brielle

The Fourth of July was quite the touchy subject this year. The more history changes the more the lies and bent truths show up changing the way we think about things we've never thought about before. I mean you can't cancel the Fourth of July because that is the date the US gained independence from the British. That much is true.

But the more we think the more we realize that it was freedom for some and not freedom for all. As the BLM movement continues to push foreword and the lgbtq+ community continues their fight too it would be insensitive to sit here and tell them they should feel patriotic knowing that they don't feel free at all. There's nothing wrong with being patriotic, but it's important to remember that America broke off from the British because the rule was unfair, it was unjust and took away freedoms from the American people. And the same concept but in a different time and in a different way that's exactly what was happening now. If you can call out a government for high taxes and monarchy then you should be able to call out a government for racism and inequality too.

Celebrating this holiday was going to be hard. Especially in a pandemic and with a Canadian boyfriend who doesn't even need to act like he is patriotic to this country. He hasn't lost to the US in his life when it came to international play so he's got all the bragging rights there.

So I was struggling, as an influencer, to find what to say here. I've voiced my thoughts many times before and have met a lot of backlash. I'm not afraid to say what's right and what's true even if people don't want to see it. I won't parade around in clothing with the flag on it because that's not how you're supposed to honor the flag. And we want to honor veterans but send off fireworks triggering their ptsd? There really wasn't a good way to go about this that makes everyone happy.

After a lot of contemplation and thinking I decided to go to the Jesse Brown Veterans Assistance and volunteer my time there. These veterans weren't from the revolutionary war but hey, it was something. They fought for us to be able to celebrate a Fourth of July and I wanted to pay my respects. People use veterans for so many arguments yet they they are so often mistreated, forgotten, left behind by so many. My uncle was a veteran and he was pretty messed up in the head afterwards. Lots of drinking problems and lots of unsolved trauma. So Jon joins me in going to the VA where not a lot of people visit because of the pandemic and bring a little happiness into the building.

Once we get in a bunch of people take to Jon. He was a hero to people in this city, the greatest captain anyone in this town has ever seen. The leader of this cities only modern day dynasty. To the city of Chicago Jons name is up with the greatest, Michael Jordan and Mr. Cub and Walter Payton. He's brought a lot of joy to these people so seeing him was a honor. Though he feels more honored to meet some real heros.

We take pictures and sit around some tables six feet apart. We ask them some questions and they ask us some too. It was actually a lot of fun and I liked learning about what Independence Day means to them.

"You're such a pretty young lady" a older woman randomly tells me and I start to blush.

"Thank you. Though I don't always feel pretty I really do appreciate the compliment. It'll go a long way" I assure her.

"I feel like I've seen you before" she claims.

"I've done a few things in my life. I make YouTube videos and I'm active in a lot of other social media platforms" I explain.

"That's not it, I don't have social media or even a smart phone" she claims.

"I model some too. Though with COVID that has taken a back seat" I insist.

"No, that's not it either" she claims. Then I really don't know what else there is. "Oh" she cheers, "you were in the newspaper" she claims.

"I was in the newspaper" I ask. I mean I shouldn't really be all that surprised, picking my nose is front page content at this point. But I don't remember being in any paper.

"Yeah! You were at the Black Lives Matter protest and they talked about you. They said you spend a lot of time and money on others. It's nice to know someone's out there looking out for us because not many others are" she claims.

My heart breaks I hear this. I know it has to suck to spend all your time fighting for something you love and you feel like it doesn't love you back. Trust me, I know. And the fact that she risked her life for people who couldn't care less about what happens to her kills me. They wouldn't even wear a mask even if it meant saving her life, even after she gave her life for theirs so many time. We always say support our veterans but what are we doing to support them? We spend more money on our forces than everyone else combined and yet people like her end up in places like this after getting cast aside. As soon as they serve their purpose no one cares. We bring them up in arguments but no one comes here, no one sees just how bad things have gotten. Especially in this pandemic.

"If you were me, what would you do to help these people in here" I question. Who better to ask than the people in here?

"I don't know, money can't take the pain away" she says somberly.

"Don't I know it" I sigh. "But there really isn't anything I can do" I ask.

"Not really. This is a government problem but the government is also the problem. They can't undo the damage they caused, they can't take away the trauma. But I would like to see this place a little more happy you know? Maybe set something up for us to do to get our minds off things" she suggest.

"I'm gonna see what I can do. I just hope it helps" I insist.

"You guys coming here means the world to us. It often times feels like people forget. They say stand for our veterans but then I look around and I'm standing alone. Especially on holidays like today where we celebrate freedom from one thing just to be a slave to another" she says.

"Well you have Jon and I in your corner" I promise.

"Then there is hope after all" she smiles.