How many American flag-themed décor items are appropriate to have in any given room? Asking for a friend. It’s me, actually. I have at least six in my living room but there are some empty spots on the wall, so I could still add more.

I love America. I’ve served her both in the military and as a spouse to a soldier-turned-diplomat. I’ve given up years of my life to be deployed and to be a solo-parent when it was my husband’s turn to go. I’ve given crisp salutes to officers at the Pentagon and pushed my kids’ strollers past guards in embassies overseas.

Though I obviously love my country, and our flag, my ideas of what it means to be American are ever-evolving and I’d sway a little if you asked me to pin it down to just one thing.

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Read the rest (if you haven’t already) over at (in)courage.

They posted it Saturday morning and sent it out to their email subscribers (oh, just about 48,000 of them!) and before I even woke up, I had several messages with comments thanking me for my service and the article.

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The team at (in)courage has been so great to work with, making me feel so welcome and, well, encouraged! I also adore the graphic they made to go along with the article. I’m already planning to submit another post the next time they take submissions and will be looking for other sites to submit posts to.

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I’m also on Instagram and Twitter @annasjoy.

Thank you, my dear friends and family, and welcome to any new readers who may have stumbled in. I’ll always be thankful that you take the time to read what I write.