07/04/2026
Last year, as we approached our nation’s amazing milestone I reflected on the extraordinary journey that brought my own family and millions of others to this moment and travelled to the small town of Taunton, MA to learn more about my family.
I learned that two Crossmans first arrived in 1630’s, a little after the Pilgrims and joined the Plymouth colony as founders of Taunton, MA, 140 years before the Declaration of Independence (and home of one of the Declaration’s signers). Over the generations they intermarried with Mayflower families and travelled west playing roles in every chapter of our nation’s history including the Revolution, the Civil War and two world wars. My great grandfather’s grandfather ultimately ended up in Ohio, married Emeline Carey from Mansfield and settled in Wood County starting his own family.
He left his wife and young son behind to fight for the Union and end slavery. Thankfully, he returned home, raised more children, and continued building the life that the war had interrupted. Like so many Americans, he answered his country's call, then returned to the quieter but equally important work of raising a family and helping build the nation his generation preserved.
The Berardis and Madores on my my mom’s side tell a different, but equally American story. They crossed the Atlantic from Italy, seeking opportunity, freedom, and a better life. They arrived with little more than hope and a determination to work hard.
Those two stories, separated by centuries, ultimately became one family. One branch helped build the nation from its earliest days. The other came later to strengthen it, enrich it, and write the next chapter. Together they remind me that America has always been both an inheritance and a promise built by those who came before us and renewed by those who chose to make this country their home.
Every one of us has a remarkable family story. The journeys may have begun in different places and at different times, but they are connected by the same yearning for freedom, opportunity, and a better future.
We live in a time of deep political disagreement. That's nothing new. Americans have argued passionately since our founding. We have disagreed over policy, politics, religion, and the meaning of liberty. Yet through it all, this nation has endured because each generation remains committed to preserving our democracy.
As we look forward, my hope is not that we will always agree but that we remember that before we are conservatives or liberals, independents, democrats, or republicans we are all Americans.
The Preamble to our Constitution speaks of forming "a more perfect Union." It doesn't say a perfect Union and recognizes that the work of America is never finished. Every generation is called to move the country a little closer to its highest ideals.
May we be worthy of that calling.
Happy Independence Day, and happy 250th anniversary of American independence. God bless you all and God bless America.
