(When Lilacs Last in the Door-yard Bloom’d)
My lifetime has seen the Civil War and the rise of the United States as a commercial and political power. I have witnessed both the apex and the abolition of slavery. I cherish the memories of the rapid growth and expansion of the United States, its potential seemingly limitless in that early era. While the sectionalism and violence of the Civil War threatened to break apart and destroy the boundless possibilities of our country, the life cycles of individuals are what kept us eternal and strong as a nation. People are born, they age and reproduce, and they die. When flowers die in the winter, they rebloom in the springtime, and they vow to mourn the fallen friends every year just as new buds are appearing. The death of bin Laden gives us a sense of poignant satisfaction, as linking death to life helps to give a deeper significance to the deaths of so many soldiers and American citizens that died that September.
