read by myfanwy

Next week, on November 12th, I will go to my local immigration office for my test and interview. This is the final step to see if I will be granted the privilege of becoming an American citizen. I did not make the decision lightly to file papers to become a citizen of this country I love and now that it is so close, I am filled with a great sense of relief and joy.

And today this joy is quadrupled. But first I must get through the test and hope that Immigration believes I am a good candidate for citizenship.

One of the possible test questions I will be asked is: What is the most important right of American citizens?

This correct answer is: The right to vote

And so today I wear my Obama MAMA t-shirt, but I cannot vote. Not yet.

But my husband voted and while he filled out his ballot, I read aloud to our son from the final paragraphs of Barack Obama's The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream (Vintage):

And in that place, I think about America and those who built it. The nation's founders, who somehow rose above petty ambitions and narrow calculations to imagine a nation unfurling across a continent. And those like Lincoln and King, who ultimately laid down their lives in the service of perfecting an imperfect union. And all the faceless, nameless men and women, slaves and soldiers and tailors and butchers, constructing lives for themselves and their children and grandchildren, brick by brick, rail by rail, calloused hand by calloused hand, to fill the landscape of our collective dreams.

It is that process I wish to be a part of.

My heart is filled with love for this country.