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I’ve traveled far and wide in this great country. I grew up in Maine, and moved to Boston for school, and eventually the start of my career. Work took me to the Pacific Northwest, via roadtrip. I took the long route in order to visit areas such as Tennessee, Texas, Arizona, California and eventually the beautiful state of Oregon. In my travels back east, I touched Idaho, Kansas, Indiana and Pennsylvania, among many other great states in our nation.
Now in my mid-30s, I’ve been able to zoom out and have an appreciation for the different people, cultures, races, ethnicities and backgrounds that comprise our country. As I look at our future, I retreat psychologically at our success as a nation going forward, but when I think of the good people I have encountered in my journeys in life thus far, I have great confidence.
There are many things that seek to divide us: economics, politics, religion, media, status and many others. However, “we the people” were built by we, the people. So long as we maintain respect for the lives of others, and our fellow Americans, I hold faith that our lives and the lives of those to follow us, will be full of joy, prosperity and the one thing that I hope most dear: the pursuit of happiness.
Ben Hamblen
Dover-Foxcroft