Editor:

It’s sometimes surprising what you can experience when you take a Sunday afternoon stroll on Fairhope Municipal Pier.

There are the family groups enjoying not only the breezes and views of shimmering Mobile Bay, but also the fun of fishing and shrimp netting. What a pleasure to see dads, on their day off, showing their eager sons and daughters exactly how to “do it,” whether it be baiting a hook or casting out of a line, or the tricky technique of throwing the shrimp net. The moms, sitting nearby on benches, watch contentedly.

Then there are the ethnic groups on the pier, all smiles as they promenade up and down the sturdy quarter-mile-long pier, completely rebuilt after the stormy visits of Katrina and Ivan. On any given Sunday you’ll find a mix of locals and tourists — Caucasians, African-Americans, Asians, Hispanics and, recently, even head-scarved Muslim women (wheeling strollers). It’s a great example of what America’s melting pot was meant to be.

Reality can also be part of joyful scenes. During a recent weekend on the pier, a certain young couple was included in the overall scene. The girl, 18 or 20, appeared completely smitten with her young man. She was a beauty and the love light in her eyes and her happy smile were something to behold. Because she was so pretty, it took a moment before one’s eyes shifted to her escort. He was perhaps a year or two older than his girlfriend and only belatedly was it clear that his lower right leg was missing. In its place was one of those remarkable prosthetic limbs Americans see more and more frequently, the kind military hospitals use as they try to restore our brave service personnel to as normal a civilian life as possible after their horrific battlefield injuries.

The young man, oblivious to everything except his girlfriend, strode along with an easy gait, just the slightest hitch in his artificial leg. It was a touching scene, reflecting as it did the patriotic willingness of our sons and daughters in the military to give their all for what they feel is their country’s mission

Family, harmony, patriotism — you can see it all on Fairhope pier and can’t help but feel proud to live in America and, especially lucky, in a community like Fairhope, Ala.