One of my ancestors was Captain Thomas Smith of Virginia. He served in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. He fought bravely for the American cause that would become the United States of America. Not quite one hundred years later one of his descendants, Lt. John William Seth Smith, would go to battle with the Union Army to save the nation that was conceived by our Founding Fathers and first led by George Washington.
Even though the writers of the Constitution would not “remember the ladies” as Abigail Adams had implored her husband, John, women would ultimately gain the right to vote in the first decades of the twentieth century. I feel an obligation to register my voice with every election. My vote is a precious and hard won gift that I do not ever take for granted. Today I will go to the polls with great joy in my heart. As I vote for those who will represent me on a local and national level I will be thinking of my ancestors and the sacrifices they made to make it possible for me to have a voice in how to continue the promises of those who dreamed of this nation.
There have been many watershed moments in the history of the United States. I learned about them as a child and young adult in school and college. I do not take my responsibility to vote for the greater good of our country and its people lightly. I have studied the issues and the candidates in great detail. I believe that this moment is yet another important turning point in which “we the people” have the opportunity to protect the United States as surely as Thomas Smith and John William Seth Smith did in the long ago.
We are at a fork in the road of our democracy. We have an important choice to make. We can think only of our personal needs and wishes or we can consider the greater question of who is more likely to further the progress of our great nation. We have become a diverse group of citizens in which those who were once slaves have as much right to vote as any white male has ever had. I am both a daughter of the American Revolution and the child of an immigrant family from Eastern Europe. Our country has been enriched by people from Europe, Africa, Asia, South America and the Middle East. The immigrants have not been invaders but creative contributors to our ever more dynamic democracy. Each of us plays an important role in keep the United States of America vibrant and true to the ideals that launched one of the most audacious experiments in the history of the world.
Today I plan to join my fellow citizens in voting. I have made my choices. I believe with all of my heart that my ballot will be as important today as the contributions of my ancestors once were. We have a choice between those who love this country and its people and those who would have us believe that a man who continues to incite divisions among us is a patriot rather than a traitor to all that is sacred. I will celebrate as I choose Kamala Harris, a woman of Black and Indian cultures. How better to demonstrate the glory of our great nation? I will spurn Donald Trump who seems only intent on enriching and protecting himself and his personal needs. It is what I am being called to do by the people who sacrificed so much before me. I will vote for the future of the nation and for the future of my children and grandchildren. I will vote for those less fortunate that I am and for those newly arrived in our country who no doubt want nothing more than my own ancestors desired. I will vote to save the United States of America from ideas that degrade it.
Today is a great day. I am excited and in awe of being able to register my voice, hoping that it will be amplified my millions of other Americans who understand the fork in the road that we must choose. I feel patriotism filling my heart with joy. The United States of America is not a hell hole as Donald Trump describes it. It is a great place to be and I am honored to do my part to keep it that way. I am a daughter of the American Revolution and I feel so proud to be part of the great democratic republic which has grown and changed to include more and more of us over time. We are a beacon of liberty shining for the world to see.
All It Takes Is A Little Love 