Thinking About Boston

Several years ago, Microsoft held its Worldwide Partner Conference in Boston. I was there, and on Friday of that week, I had about half a day free before I had to head for the airport - so I decided to walk as much of the Freedom Trail as time would allow, starting from my downtown hotel, which was only a couple of blocks off the trail. It was my first and (so far) only chance to be a tourist in Boston, but I would go back in a heartbeat if I had a chance to spend more time there.

It is difficult to describe the feeling of standing by the graves of people whose signatures you've seen on the Declaration of Independence, or walking past a building and seeing a sign telling you that the Declaration was first publicly read aloud from the window above your head, or walking past Paul Revere's home (now a museum that, unfortunately, I had no time to visit), or the Old North Church (of "One if by land, two if by sea" fame).

But what really struck me was the realization that I was 3,000 miles from home, and yet I had no fear or hesitation about walking the city streets. I didn't have to worry about what the policeman on the corner might do to me. The guy I saw wrestling a keg of beer off a delivery truck would look just as natural on the streets of Seattle if you just replaced his Red Sox cap with a Mariners cap. I was surrounded by people going about their business just as they did in my home town.

And I realized more strongly than I ever had before what an incredibly amazing country this is, and how unique it is in the entire sweep of human history, that I could be so far from home and yet have so much in common with the people all around me...because we were all Americans. There is no other country on earth where this is true, and there never has been - and that makes it very special...and I thank God that I was fortunate enough to be born here.

Thanks for listening.