Here we are, standing at the edge of 250 years.
Two hundred and fifty years since the Declaration of Independence gave language to an idea that would change the world: that a people could govern themselves, that liberty was not a gift from kings, and that ordinary citizens had the right to build a nation from their own courage, labor and hope.
I love the United States of America.
I love this country not because it is perfect, but because it has always carried within it the ability to become better. That is the miracle of America. Our founding promise was not fully achieved in 1776. It has been argued over, fought for, expanded, tested and defended by generation after generation.
Patriotism, to me, is not pretending our country has never failed. It is loving America enough to keep reaching for the best meaning of its founding words. It is believing liberty is not just something we inherited, but something we are responsible for handing forward.
My parents, James and Martha Lopez, taught me the promise of America. They taught me that the American Dream is not easy. It means work. It means sacrifice. It means hard decisions. It means believing tomorrow can be better if we are willing to do our part today.
That lesson has guided my life and my work.
As Independence Day approaches, I find myself thinking not only about Philadelphia in 1776, but about Cibola County. I think about railroad towns, mining camps, farms, libraries, churches, trading posts, classrooms, council chambers, parade routes and kitchen tables. I think about all the places where America is not an abstraction, but a lived thing.
America is not only marble monuments and famous speeches.
America is also a mother teaching her child to love the flag.
America is a veteran standing quietly during the national anthem.
America is a public library built because local women believed books should belong to everyone.
America is a city charter written because citizens wanted a stronger voice in their own government.
America is a small county trying, stumbling, arguing, correcting itself and still moving forward.
That is what makes this place beautiful.
Cibola County mirrors America in ways both proud and painful. We know what it means to build. We know what it means to lose. We know what it means to watch industries rise and fall, to see families struggle, to debate our future and to ask whether our leaders are listening.
But we also know what it means to endure.
The Grants City Charter debate unfolding today is more than a local government dispute. It is a reminder of one of the oldest American questions: Who holds the power? City Hall, or the people?
The answer should be the people.
That was the spirit of the Revolution. That was the meaning behind “no taxation without representation.” That was the promise of self-government. And that is why local documents like the Grants City Charter matter. They are not dry paperwork. They are living commitments that say citizens have a right to shape the government closest to them.
We saw that same lesson in the House District 6 residency controversy. Representation matters because people matter. A community cannot be treated as an afterthought and still be called properly represented. These local struggles may seem small compared to the sweeping story of America, but they are the story of America.
Self-government does not only happen in Washington, D.C. It happens
here.
It happens in Grants, Milan, Bluewater, San Rafael, Acoma, Laguna, Pinehill, Timberlake, Fence Lake and every corner of Cibola County where people care enough to speak, vote, serve and demand better.
That is why I believe patriotism must be taught early and often.
A child is never too young to learn that this country has a story worth knowing: The Mayflower. The Boston Massacre. Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride. Lexington and Concord. The Declaration. The Constitution. The Civil War. The fight for civil rights. The moon landing. Women’s Suffrage. The long march of ordinary Americans who kept pushing the country closer to its promise.
We should teach the hard chapters, too. We must. But we should not teach our children only contempt. If all they learn is what America got wrong, they will never understand why so many people gave everything to make this country better.
America’s beauty is not found in perfection, it is found in the striving of her people.
It is found in the belief that a country can correct itself without destroying itself. It is found in the conviction that liberty, once lit, must be guarded by every generation.
I think of both Dolley Madison who save the Constitution from certain destruction during the War of 1812, and of Mother Lucy Jane Whiteside who birthed a whole community when I think of that kind of America.
Neither woman was president. She did not command an army. She did not write a founding document. But she helped build a community, a country and a county. She delivered babies, cared for the sick, fed travelers, fought fires and helped give Grants a civic memory that still matters today. The library once named in her honor was not just a building. It was a promise that learning, service and community belong at the center of public life.
That, too, is America. The greatness of this country has always depended on people who may never become famous: Parents. Teachers. veterans. firefighters. librarians. nurses. farmers. miners. small business owners. volunteers. neighbors.
People who get up, do the work, love their homes, their families and leave a legacy behind.
As we prepare to mark 250 years of American independence, I pray that we grow closer to the true meaning of our Constitution. I pray that we remember liberty is not license to do whatever we want, but a responsibility to live in a way worthy of self-government.
America means many things to many people.
To me, America is the enduring flame of liberty.
It is the belief that my future children should inherit a country that still knows how to hope. It is the belief that Cibola County, with all its struggles and beauty, has a place in the national story. It is the belief that ordinary people matter.
I love America. And man, do I love Cibola County.
On this Independence Day, let us celebrate not only the birth of a nation, but the responsibility that comes with inheriting one.
Let us teach our children the stories.
Let us honor those who came before us.
Let us demand better from those who govern us.
Let us love this country enough to keep building it.
America is beautiful. America is unfinished. And America is ours. God Bless America. God Bless Cibola County.