Dinah was in the public school system until the fourth grade. At which time her mother found herself needing to re-teach her children when they came home from school and therefore decided to take on the responsibility to home school Dinah and her sister. During the next 8-10 years, Dinah completed her studies and she says she remembers that in her home there was frequent “background noise” about personal values, taxes, and peoples’ rights.
When Dinah was 21, she moved to California. As she puts it she saw some pretty scary stuff. She recalls one instance when she went to a party in a not so safe part of town and found herself in a precarious situation that she didn’t think she would get out of safely. She said that all she could think about was if she called 911 it would take the police longer to get to her than it would take for danger to become her. That was a turning point for her. Dinah survived that night and within seven months she moved back to Georgia. It was also a time when she decided to educate herself on self defense, the NRA, and gun rights.
Dinah was now in her early twenties living in Georgia trying to make a life for herself; with no car, no home, no money, but as she puts it “she had her freedom.” Within two days of moving to Georgia, Dinah found a job working in the kitchen at an exclusive country club. She found herself an affordable apartment that unfortunately was not in close proximity to the country club. To make ends meet there was a period of time when she worked double shift at the country club and took on another job as a pastry chef for a caterer. As a young adult this scheduled completely squelched her opportunity for a social life coupled with transportation challenges not owning a car. However, she managed, at times, a 31 hour shift until she was able to financially structure her life into a normal work day schedule.
Working at the country club she met Roger, a co-worker. Over the years their friendship turned into something deeper and they eventually married. Six years later, Dinah is still employed at the club and has earned additional responsibilities there.
Today, Dinah owns a home and pays a mortgage; owns a used car without a note; pays cash for everything – she learned that lesson the hard way; is an NRA supporter and owns a gun to protect herself, and supports the Fairtax plan.
When Dinah shared her story with me, I couldn’t help but smile. She had so much wisdom packed in her 28 years. I thought ‘in this world of young people feeling as if they are entitled, how and why was she spared the curse?’ So I asked her, “Dinah, you know that you are a-typical. Why do you see the world differently than so many young adults your age?”
Her response was thoughtful, provocative, and without pause. The best way I can express it is to bullet each point she made, so here they are:
- she was home schooled and learned self reliance; not indoctrination to the reliance of government and the cradle to grave mentality
- she sacrifices her wants for her needs - until she can pay cash; she says having loans, notes, and credit cards makes her a slave to others and she prefers her freedom.
- suffering is a necessary part of life; it taught her the responsibility, ownership, and consequence that come with freedom of choice
At the beginning of this story, I mentioned that a friend introduced me to Dinah. The reason for the introduction was not really about Dinah and ‘her story’, but that two weeks earlier, she had a tattoo sketched on her right arm - shoulder to wrist. The tattoo includes the faces of our country’s Founding Fathers. It also includes images of the bald eagle, the Constitution, the quill pen used by the Fathers to sign the Constitution, and each signature. Being involved with my company Nichola Originals and Stand Up. Be Read.TM, my friend knew I would want to see this tattoo. When I started interacting with Dinah to schedule our meeting, it became clear to me that her story and message is as powerful as the tattoo on her arm.
I spent a good 20 minutes studying the beautiful sketch and imagery of the tattoo and I asked her, “What possessed you to tattoo the Founding Fathers?” She said a well known artist was in town and extended an offer to sketch a tattoo for her. After much consideration, she took him up on his offer. She then went into research mode and took great care to choose images that best convey the respect she has for the service of the Founding Fathers. She said they exemplify freedom first and she feels in today’s political climate, they are disrespected. For three days she sat while the artist sketched the images; the thought frequently about how her generation probably doesn’t know who the Founding Fathers are and the sacrifices they made to lay the path for future generations. She said at one point she was in great pain and looked over at the photo of George Washington and thought of the pain he went through fighting for freedom.
My final question to her was, “When did you become interested in the Founding Fathers?” She responded that during the campaign of 2008, she heard someone ask then Senator Obama about his view on gun rights and his response was in favor of revoking gun ownership laws. That stopped Dinah in her tracks and she began to study the candidates and what they stand for…do their views align with the Constitution or against the Constitution. Then the bailouts of the banks brought her more concern, from both sides of the political isle. She knew right then she needed to educate herself on the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights. It was then she became intrigued with the Founding Fathers and their principles.
Dinah hopes to inspire her generation to Stand Up. Be Read.TM on the principles of the Constitution and the Founding Fathers. She believes, as I do, that once you understand the premise of freedom in the United States of America, you will realize its fragility and fight to protect it.
Thank you, Dinah, for sharing your story and being a Face of Stand Up. Be Read.TM
