I treasure the Patriots’ Day celebrated by Massholes and other New Englanders on the third Monday in April, to commemorate the battles of Lexington, Concord, and Menotomy. Celebrated as the founders intended by the Boston Marathon, a Sox Game and a long weekend just as the weather gets nice.

9/11 marked the beginning of a dark turn in the United States; of 20+ years of thinking that toil and sacrifice was the only way to preserve the status quo, and that a brighter future wasn’t possible.