by Lynne Spina

Any day now, the American service men and woman stationed on the USS Harry S. Truman and the USS Carl Vinson will receive a videotaped singing telegram from the children of Linda Vista Catholic School "the school my daughter attends" in Chesterfield, MO. The USO at Lambert International Airport has already received it. This video telegram is the emotionally charged patriotic concert performed by the children for the community on March 6th. The concert aimed to "salute the men and women who are heroes, patriots, soldiers and pioneers". Invitations were extended to local police, fire fighters and other heroes who serve our country every day. School families were encouraged to invite veterans. The concert included a unique spin. It was videotaped and sent as a singing telegram for U.S. troops. 

When the music teacher started the practices last fall, no one would have known that exactly two weeks after the scheduled March 6th concert, our nation would be at war. Then, during the concert, could the children possibly know how their songs served to strongly link war heroes of the past, the heroes of 9-11 and the then pending war in Iraq together in the minds of the audience.

The children opened their performance with "America the Beautiful". An emotional rush surged across the room. Having heard this song countless times before, especially recently, did not take away from the grandeur of its words. The song sparks new feelings of patriotism every time our country faces a freedom crisis. And something about hearing children singing "America the Beautiful" specifically ones own child singing the song - floods the mind with visions of a future foggy with unanswered questions and makes a parent uneasy. Maybe this is true even more so for parents like my husband and me who adopted a child born in another country and brought her to America. 

Now my daughter's naturalization impacts me in ways I never imagined on that day of her citizenship ceremony in March of 1997. Back then my thoughts focused on her journey to this country paved by the path of fate or possibly divine intervention. I also thought in terms of what it meant for the unity of our family. She was no longer living a life without a mother, father and a loving extended family in a land of repression not understood by westerners. Now, I find it easy to wonder if on some level, it was unjust to move my daughter from her country. Yes we brought her to a new land filled with opportunity. But this land is threatened by mighty hatred. 

During the concert, I held back tears. Sometimes I just never know how or when the moments of our adoption journey will flood my heart. This day, sitting in the audience of the concert, the children's songs uncovered several of my feelings. I felt joy as my daughter stood on stage singing about her great country. I felt proud of my daughter. I felt pain as I remembered my father, a veteran, whom my daughter never met. I felt unsettled as our nation entered another war, and I felt anxiety over the uncertain future of the world.

The closing song was the exclamation mark to an already powerful concert. When the song was finished, the children received a standing ovation. The song they sang is titled American Tears' by Teresa Jennings. As the children's voices resonated, most listeners quietly wept. I was no exception. 

"Sometimes I think about America.
About her people's legacy.
I wonder if they knew that what they had to do
would be known throughout the years...

For the heroes. For the patriots.
For the soldiers. For all the pioneers.
I will always be an American!
And I'll always cry American tears"

Singing the last two lines seemed very natural to my daughter. After all, she's lived in the United States 7 of the 8 years of her life. I, as an adult, have looked at her assimilation from the perspective and feelings associated with removing a child from her country of origin. By the end of this concert I was comforted by my thoughts as they turned concise: It is very right that our daughter is our family. It is very right that she is an American. She has embraced both. In fact, she is a 21st century pioneer.