"The First American?"

"In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue..."; that was sung in schools on Columbus Day way back when I was a little boy in Chicago. We liked Columbus in our house; we were Italian! We liked Enrico Fermi and Fiorello La Guardia too! The greatest baseball player alive was Joe Di Maggio, and the greatest singer in the world was Frank Sinatra, oddly they were also Italian. We had quite a bit of ethnic pride in our house when I was growing up. I like having an Italian heritage; I'm sure people of other cultural backgrounds like their heritage as well, and that is a good thing. We should all be proud of our family's heritage; this is a practice unique to America because we are also proud to be of American culture. I love pizza and pasta; and I also love bagels and lox, Chinese food and gyros! Like Don King says, "Only in America!"; we are a unique people!

Monday is Columbus Day, some of us have the day off, others don't; but we should all take a little time to remember Christopher Columbus. He was a young boy from Genoa, Italy who lived his early life looking out over the beautiful blue Mediterranean Sea, and dreamed about sailing to unknown lands. He grew into manhood and pursued his dream; he petitioned the King of Italy for funds to sail to the East Indies, as he believed "the world was round" not flat. The King turned him down; he believed "the world was flat". Some young people would have given up after a King turned them down, but not Chris. The young adventurer went to Queen Isabella of Spain with his idea, and she funded Christopher's adventure. Three ships: the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria set sail. The rest is history (literally). We now have cities all over America named for this courageous explorer; Columbus, Ohio; Columbus, Georgia; Columbia, South Carolina and the District of Columbia are only a few places that bear the mark of Christopher Columbus.

The story of Christopher Columbus is a fitting start for the "American Dream". Chris believed in something that seemed impossible at its inception; yet, his persistence made his dream come true (although he did get government funding). Chris didn't get a guaranteed loan like General Motors or SOLYNDRA, but he did risk his life on his proposition.

What should we take from the life of Christopher Columbus; perhaps hard work and perseverance, things that we may already accept as the "American Spirit". He was the testimony of individual pursuit of success; you know, "the pursuit of happiness": I read that somewhere. Think about Chris on Monday; he could be called the First American!

(I will be off on Monday, thanks to Chris. See you all on Tuesday!)