As I write this, I am sitting on a hotel balcony in Nashville, overlooking a lovely fountain and thinking about last night. Hubby’s birthday is in September, and I had planned a trip for him to experience the Hell’s Kitchen restaurant in Las Vegas. He really enjoys watching cooking shows (suits me, since he cooks more than I do), and I thought it would be fun to surprise him. So, how did we end up in Nashville? Well, that was because of a different TV show.

We normally don’t watch America’s Got Talent, but we happened to catch it one night when a country group called Chapel Hart performed. Chapel Hart (three young black women from Poplarville, Mississippi) are two sisters and a first cousin, and their harmonies are the special ones only families can make. When asked after their audition if they had been trying to break into the music business for long, they got a little emotional and said it had been tough because, “Country music doesn’t always look like us.” Chapel Hart ended up getting 5th place overall on AGT, but they won big when they received an invitation to perform on the Grand Ole Opry. Their debut performance was last night…and that’s how we ended up in Nashville.

I had forgotten what I love about the Opry…the old, the new, the different varieties of music. But what I really love (and was reminded of) was when Chapel Hart took the stage and asked for all current and former military, veterans, and first responders to raise their hands. My sweet Wes never looks for public recognition, but after a poke in the ribs from me, his was one of those hands. They thanked them and sang their original song, American Pride. Then, these young women looked at the audience and acknowledged what we at Postcards believe to be true. As Americans, as children of God, we can get through all the junk that divides us if we join together as community and love each other.

I felt like she knew us.

Community. It’s what we do. Hell’s Kitchen can wait.