Thankful for the Fourth

By David Aikman

I am an immigrant deeply grateful for US citizenship. When I arrived in the US a few decades ago, an English friend of mine used to say that July Fourth was England's Thanksgiving Day. His joke was that on July 4, 1776, England was free of responsibility for America.

My friend was joking, but I think he was closer to the truth than he realized. Every single foreigner who has immigrated to the US since 1776 should consider July Fourth a day of Thanksgiving. Without America having become prosperous, free and strong, those of us born outside it would not even have wanted to come here. But it did, and we did.

As an immigrant, of course, I enjoy America's Thanksgiving. But I give special thanks for the Fourth.