And that’s that

On Saturday the 12th of November, the goodbyes came. Principal photography — done.

After four different trips, 21 weeks, coast to coast and north to south, Amsterdam Stories USA comes to a close.

It’s hard to put it all into words. The mayors, the inventors, the teachers, the sheriffs, the insurance salesmen, the hunters, the taxidermists, the administrative workers, the pastors, the waitresses, the actors, the musicians, the farmers, the radio hosts — people with strong, meaningful lives, just trying to make it happen in this vast America. Everyone we met meant something. You have made all different kinds of imprints in this life.

Thank you for letting us into your lives. Thank you for sharing your stories with us. Thank you for proving to us, time and again, that there are great Americans out there. People who fight and live and love, people who keep this country moving forward. It’s not the folks in Washington or the men on Wall Street. It’s the people who take on each day with a drive and courage that no one can take away. You are the fighters, you are the creators.

A small town is more than just a small town. Whether a back road gets you there, or you stumble upon it by accident, a town is made up of the lives that call it home. Everyone is different, everyone has views that may not be your own. But they live together, lending a hand when something goes wrong, and picking up the pieces when all seems lost. A town is made up of so many colors and pasts and dreams and histories.

It has been a privilege to know you all. It has meant the world to us to be able to come in, meet you, and spend a little time understanding who you are and the town you call home. You are the ones who keep America running. And even when all seems bad, when the news reports never seem good, we will think of you and know that you are the ones who will keep us together.

Babies are born, families change, a town doesn’t always look like it used to, jobs come and go, people leave and people enter; through it all, the determination to keep going is what lasts. That’s what makes America great, that’s what makes this world great. We may seem lost every  now and then, but we know where we’re going.

To all those we met — thank you for being fearless, thank you for never giving up, thank you for pushing this country forward. It takes remarkable people to make it in this life. That’s you.

Your music, your words, your accents, your traditions, your laughter, your stories, and your humanity — we will take it with us and it will never leave.

Thank you. Never give up, never stop moving. Keep loving and keep pushing on.

“The world only spins forward.”