Standing for the USA

Sometimes, awesome things happen. Today, I'm going to tell you about something awesome that happened while I was at Girl's State. One hundred thirty-something girls are sitting in a giant hall (I swear it is the Great Hall from Hogwarts only with carpet and no tables) listening to a patriotic presentation. This is the first night any of the girls have spent together, so none of them really know each other well. There is a female trio singing songs, with story reading in-between to go with the slide show. There is background music set for the slide show too. So, after a story is read the trio usually sings. This time they didn't. It was just music. Then the words start, and the song is recognized. "Proud to be an American" plays, and after the first few lines are sung, you hear whispering among the girls. They are whispering the words. Gradually the whispering turns into singing. Then comes the last chorus. When the girls sing/hear the line "and I'll proudly stand up [cymbol crash] next to you" almost every single girl stands up as if on cue. Nobody cued us in. We didn't plan it. It just happened. Truth be told, I didn't even know that I had stood up until I realized that everyone else was standing. It's just acting on impulse. How amazing is it that we all had that impulse at the same time? Amazing. I love this country. I am truly proud to be an American.