Who would have thought, when standing on top of a mountain, that a tiny purple flower would be the most captivating image? At 11,000 feet, I was not starved for scenery. The panoramic image of tree-covered mountains still harboring snow in shady caches was quite a sigh...

“The 4th of July is hard for me,” I confessed to my family. “It’s hard for me to want to wear the flag that some people don’t want me to live under.”

When I said this, I was frustrated and hurt, unsorted emotions swirling inside. All I knew was the childhood excitement...