THE MORAL OF THE STORY:Be thankful to live in the land of the free

“It is the love of country that has lighted and that keeps glowing the holy fire of patriotism.”

— J. Horace McFarland

Were there other things I could be doing? Yes, of course. Did I have a long list of things I needed to do? Absolutely. Am I glad that I was required to do something that I probably wouldn’t have chosen if given the option? There is no doubt about it.

I’d had an unusually busy week, which included a happy — but nonetheless nonstop — four days of babysitting our two young granddaughters.

My husband and I loved every minute with the lovable little ladies, but when they left I had a backlog of projects that needed my attention. I also had a long list of phone calls to make.

One call was to find out the status of my jury duty requirement. I assumed that I would reach a recording that would tell me to call in the next day.

Instead, my instructions were to show up the next day at 7:30 a.m. at the Superior Courthouse in Santa Ana. I thought that possibly I’d listened to the instructions for a group other than mine so I called again, but I was, in fact, to report bright and early the next day.

I was pleasantly surprised, all the way around. I seem to get called for jury duty quite frequently and have been on many juries, and I always meet interesting people and learn interesting things.

Best of all, I am always reminded of how fortunate I am to live in America, land of the free.

The guards at the security check station were friendly, as were the people who sat around me in the jury waiting room. I listened to an informative orientation speech and a warm welcome by a judge.

The judge thanked us for our participation in the judicial system, a system that is respected as the best around the world. He reminded us that fulfilling our civic duty helps ensure the high quality of justice.

I was part of a group that was screened to take part in a complicated lawsuit, one that we were later told could take three weeks to resolve. I wasn’t thrilled about how much time it would take if I made the final round of jurors, but I knew I would do my best and hoped my fellow jurors would do the same.

Once in the courtroom, the judge explained the case. He then thanked us for our time and said that we had already done our duty, because when both sides of the lawsuit knew the jury was being assembled, they decided to settle.

He then told us we were free to go.

When I saw all the flags flying on my drive home, I thought about how thankful I am to live in our country. We all need to do our part to pray for and participate in our civic duty, which includes casting our votes on Tuesday.

May we do what it takes to ensure that we remain one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

And you can quote me on that.