Notice anything different about your magazine this month?
Rather than put a person on the cover, we decided to celebrate our country’s birthday. In fact, artist Margaret Cusack created the quilt you see especially for Guideposts readers.
Usually we do this sort of theme cover at Christmas, but isn’t the Fourth of July the second most important birth we celebrate? The birth of our deepest hopes and aspirations as a people?
Almost every article this month pays tribute to the enduring national promise of the American Dream, the promise of a land where anyone can achieve anything. Marathoner Meb Keflezighi’s inspiring journey from an impoverished village in Africa to his standing as one of the world’s elite distance runners is only part of his amazing story; gaining his American citizenship was his proudest moment.
Divorced mom Janis Collins and the Labrador retriever her son rescued from an abusive home discover a new kind of freedom—freedom from fear and isolation—watching fireworks burst in the skies above. Justin Willoughby broke the chains of his addictive eating patterns and not only lost 600 pounds but found himself. Today he teaches others how to care for the bodies they’ve been blessed with. Kate Braestrup undergoes an incredible transformation when she refuses to let the passion of her husband’s dream die with him.
You will recognize correspondent Byron Pitts as one of the new young stars of 60 Minutes. Yet did you know the secret that nearly held him back from the goals he yearned to reach all his life? And what could be more American than Little League baseball? JoEllen Langmack introduces you to a coach who not only teaches the game, but touches lives forever.
Yes, America is a country built on dreams, and so is this issue of Guideposts.
