By Will Collins

Sept. 11, 2017, was a big day in our nation.

While the news media had a few small stories regarding crimes of sadness, most of the heartbreak was focused on remembering the 9/11 attack on our country as well as the recent storms hitting our southern states.

Absent from the news were stories of racial divide, an abundant amount of football players kneeling during the National Anthem, disdain for our government and any other negative commentary that generally keeps me from tuning in.

I have noticed however, just like you, that this is a common occurrence.

As a country, we argue, point fingers, place blame, agree and disagree about many things, too often for the simple sake of doing it just to do it.

Then, out of nowhere, something tragic happens and, for the overwhelming majority, these disagreements become an afterthought and our nation turns united and works together as if we had been best friends all along.

The stories of division get replaced with tales of compassion; people lending a helping hand, donating time and money.

There is no race, gender, national origin or any other aspect that set us apart, only Americans coming to the aid of Americans.

The question I must ask is, should it really take a national disaster to bring unity to our country?

Over the next few weeks, the topics in the media will slowly transition back to gloom and people will begin placing blame and pointing fingers once again.

Personally, I would love to see us maintain this unity without a catastrophe involved.

Unfortunately, the news media on our TVs often seem to prefer the opposite.

Right now, we enjoy watching the stories unfold about how everyone is working together as one, in order to bring relief to those in need. But sadly, these feelings will eventually diminish as we heal from the aftermath of the storm, then it’s back to the same stories on TV.

A good friend of mine shared a YouTube video with me that had the headline, “This Viral Video Could Save America.”

It is an absolutely amazing video that shows President Trump while he visited after Hurricane Harvey wreaked havoc on Texas.

Very little of this footage was shown in the news media, but I feel every American should see it.

I’m not going to tell the readers much about the video, as I’m hoping I can raise enough curiosity that you will look it up for yourself. I’m not trying to tell you that President Trump is a great president, I’m not trying to change your mind or political stance, but I am wanting you to see that there are two sides to every story. Unfortunately, the news only wants you to see one.

Please humor me by watching the video at this link: youtu.be/_sXAreNhCR8.

Times such as these increase our pride in being Americans. Let’s work to keep that feeling.

As Daryn Kagan said, “Bad things do happen in the world, like war, natural disasters, disease. But out of those situations always arise stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.”

We need to make sure a lack of continued solidarity doesn’t lead to its own disaster. We are so much better than that.

Political enthusiast Will Collins is a lifelong resident of Kentucky and has called Winchester home for the past 20 years.He can be reached at wrcollins70@gmail.com