The Gift of Living on Marco

Earlier this week, we sat around the tree with friends, family and loved ones. We opened presents, stuffed our faces with great food and even squeezed in a little football if we were lucky. It’s easy to forget that we do have more gifts given to us throughout the year and beyond that we sometimes overlook.

• We have some of the finest schools right here on Marco in the form of Tommie Barfield Elementary, Marco Island Charter Middle School and the Marco Island Academy. These schools are a product of the families here on Marco, but the accomplishments are made possible by the wonderful staff, administrators and volunteers who throw their hearts and souls into our children every day. 

• Our Public Safety Professionals - police, fire and EMS all stand ready to serve you on seconds’ notice. All of us have been touched by or know someone who has been assisted in this last year by one of those young men or women in these professions. Our streets are safer because of them, our friends have been saved by their prompt actions and knowledge and our homes may still be standing because of their quick response.

• Some of us may have had the unfortunate need to access the healthcare system here or have had a relative or friend become ill and require hospitalization. I can tell you from personal experience we are so lucky to live in an area that has wonderful professionals and facilities. We don’t go on a waitlist for procedures, we aren’t told we can’t be taken care of due to financial reasons and we are always treated with respect, regardless of the circumstances.

• We live in one of the most beautiful areas of this great nation. While my brother is scrapping ice off his windshield in New Hampshire, we are putting the tops down on our convertibles or heading off to tennis, golf, or a day at the beach to read a book.

• Our environment is pristine, and the wonders of nature are as boundless as they are beautiful, but that is not without the vigilance of volunteers and professionals who work every day on our behalf to keep it that way.

We need now to reflect on how we might look forward to the future on several pressing issues. 2024 will be an election cycle that will see voters going to the polls to elect men and women who will dedicate a great deal of their time and energy to grapple with a great deal of important issues that have presented themselves to the citizens of this great nation and beyond our borders.

• Our southern border is a mess, and we need to deal with that as one of the most important priorities before us. I am a second generation American and proud of my grandparents on both sides of my family who chose to come here legally to seek a better opportunity and to build a family unit which today I am extremely proud of. We are going broke dealing with this issue, and it must be dealt with. I can only hope we quickly and humanely deal with it to ensure we no longer stain the great legacy of those who did come to our shores legally.

• In Florida, the issue of insurance premiums is crushing the dreams of so many who wish to be part of our great state or to be able to stay here. We need to deal with the issue head on and not with smoke and mirrors.

• Our State Legislature needs to cease its continued attack on “home rule” by passing legislation which seeks to allow Tallahassee place undue restraint on locally citizenry to make many of its own decisions. The last couple of years has seen such overreach and may be a direct result of “special interest” occupying over 40% of those coming from one employment sector.

• America must retain its leadership role in world affairs by doing so as a strong and steady hand to ensure the weak are protected and the tyrants in the world are kept at bay. Our military must remain strong and our alliances unwavering in the future.

Lastly, we live under the comfort of a blanket of freedom and liberty which has been woven together with the treads of sacrifice by our military and their families. From my father’s generation to those young men and women wearing the uniform today and deployed away from home during this wonderful holiday season, we say thank you for your sacrifice, patriotism and bravery.

Yes, every day we live we are unwrapping the gifts we sometimes forget we have, and these are just a few of those. We take much of what we have for granted, and we shouldn’t. We need to say thank you each day we rise for the greatest gift that has ever been bestowed on us: the birth of Christ, the event we sometimes mix up with the simplicity of a holiday.

Let us go forth in 2024 as a united nation in purpose and one in which our citizens as well as our allies are confident in. Happy New Year to you all from the Coastal Breeze News and its dedicated staff.