Last Updated on July 4, 2016
Each country with a colonial past celebrates it; though, for some, separation may not have been accomplished through violent revolution, but via natural evolution by decoupling of cultural and economic ties. Then, of course, there are individual demarcations of personal milestones; of becoming an adult; of the first habitat away from childhood memories; or even a first paycheck replacing the dependency of an allowance bundled in caveats of emotional connections veiled in subtle admonitions of responsibilities, adolescent resentments and the proverbial cutting of the lawn by a weekend warrior.
Time normally takes care of such sophomoric interludes, and replaces those seemingly significant torch-passings with other, more relevant and impactful events. We tend to place great metaphysical significance upon a particular day, as the cornerstone and marker representing a transcendent relevance, and all the while allow for the symbols to disintegrate in the tatters of modern decay.
Revolutions rarely attain the goals sought; for, it is the days and decades thereafter which matter, in daily preserving an unextinguished light which remains fragile and dimming but for patriots who sacrifice for naught. Clubs and associations form, like cottage industries propagated by deliberate avenues of greedy excess; the daughters or sons of this or that revolution, and lineage becomes of importance, while the names of unmarked souls lying anonymously beneath the bloodied soils where trumpets once blared and orders fulfilled, and the dying screams of sons crying out for motherless children left in the poverty of a forgotten past, fade as memories and the aged pass on.
Can a people who remembers not the dates of demarcating moments last for long? Must nations celebrate in order to garner the enthusiasm of civic pride, or can mere greed, money grubbing endeavors make up for loss of flag waving and patriotic fervor? In the end, it is how we treat the most vulnerable and weak, which reflects upon the ardor of our sincerity.
For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition, and who must file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset, the question of independence is a significant one — for it is a turning away from that which continues to harm, whether through greater stresses upon the body, mind or emotional stability; and the severing of ties is a real one, and not just a symbolic quiver in a parade of trumpets and gleeful shouts; no, Independence Day for the Federal or Postal employee who successfully maneuvers through the bureaucratic maze of an administrative nightmare in order to attain a Federal Disability Retirement annuity, is a day indeed of significance and import.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire