Wake Up America

In 2003, Bill and I joined millions of others in this country and around the world. We all took to the streets demanding that former President G.W. Bush not invade Iraq. All of us were ignored. Bush invaded Iraq, in spite of all the opposition. Bill had a sense that he was going to do that. SO before the invasion, he went over to our neighborhood rental company and purchased one of their signs with letters that businesses often use to announce an opening. We installed it up high at the north end of our property, ensured that it would light up at night and installed what has been the heading for all these years: WAKE UP AMERICA.

The early messages were all anti-war and anti-Bush. One of the first was, “The world says no to war. March on Feb 15”. The invasion happened and people were frustrated and felt powerless. Bill was never one to let others define life for him. So he persevered for 14 years in urging people to think about the big issues: war, peace, race, equity, environmental degradation, greed, honesty, LGBTQ equality, mendacity, ignorance, climate change, etc. He spent many hours writing out ideas on the backs of used envelopes. Many more hours were spent with the two of us discussing the ideas, considering the ones I brought to the table and editing the messages for greatest impact. At least once a month the sign was changed and sometimes more often. Every now and then, the sign would celebrate a nice occasion such as when our son Pete married his sweetheart Emily, when our god-daughters’ soccer team won or if we had a tenant opening, but most of the time, the messages were political and provocative.

In those first six months or so, we had our windows shot out 3 times: once the window of my car (parked in front) and twice the big patio door windows next to our kitchen. At first, we just assumed someone didn’t agree with us. The person didn’t use bullets; rather more like the ammo in a BB or pellet gun. After the third time, our message was “will whoever is shooting out our windows, please come and talk”. Of course, that person or persons never did. But many others stopped by: offers to help us pay for our windows, boxes of fruit, and many expressions of appreciation for our sign.

There are two sides of the sign. Through the years, we often divided the messages so that one side was an “in your face” confrontation about war, racism, greed, etc. The other side often had more positive statements like “everyone benefits when everyone benefits”. The division reflected both our inclinations and also a balanced message of using both our minds and our hearts. We’ve continued the tradition even after Bill died. In the sidebar are just some of the messages over the years.