If you’ve been reading my most recent blogs, you know that I’m in America now and have been for about a month.
A week or so ago, I was visiting my maternal grandmother in her little country home in Christoval, Texas. As soon as I arrived at her house, she called as many relatives as she could get on the phone and told them all that I was in town and that they should hurry out to see me since I’d only be around for a couple of days or so.
People began to arrive by the carload. Aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews all came through her front door and then shook my hand or hugged me. It had been twelve long months since I’d seen any of these people.
That first night, after dinner, we settled in my grandmother’s living room and had one of those rambling group conversations that are so common at large family gatherings. At one point or another, we talked about the weather, politics, current events, pop culture, fashion, and food, among many other things. Of course, we gossiped too, about everyone under the sun.
I don’t exactly remember how it got started, but someone in our large group said something about young Americans, and the talk took off in that direction. Lance, a fellow about my age who married one of my cousins, asserted that, in his opinion, young people today lack a “work ethic.”
Some people agreed with him and others didn’t. I kept mostly silent and just listened as the debate raged on. It seems that the longer I live outside America and the older I get, the less contact I have with young Americans, so I felt that it was important that I just see what everyone else had to say.
Several days later, I ran across the video that I’ve decided to share with you. I don’t want to spoil the thing by telling you all about it here. I do want to say, though, that if Lexi Lehrman, the girl featured in it, is any indication of what young Americans are like, this country has nothing to worry about.
By the way, breast cancer is a subject I know something about because my paternal grandmother, a German-speaking woman who had a great impact on my life, died of the disease before I’d even reached my teens.
After watching, if you want to find out how you can get involved with Lexi’s project, check out http://lovelexi.org/.
Tags: Family And Friends
