Vote!

Even if the guy we voted for doesn't win,
we are still winners for getting out to vote.

As I write this (Tuesday evening, just before the polls close in VA), I have no idea who has won the presidential election.  But I do know, that I absolutely love living in a country that allows us the freedom to chose who we want.  We can vote for Obama, Romney, or even write-in a candidate if we so feel the urge. 

Even if we can't unanimously agree on who should be in the White House, I am grateful that voting is a right we have.  One that shouldn't be taken for granted.   How fortunate we are that our voices are heard and our votes get counted.  There is no better place to live than the United States of America. 

I felt such pride going to vote on Tuesday and taking Ian with me to experience the process.  I wanted him to feel like he was a part of it.  We chose the electronic version for voting and Ian pressed all the buttons, after appropriately letting him know which ones to push.  When it came time to the final big, red button to "VOTE", I said to Ian I wanted to get a picture of him pushing it.  He looked at me and whispered, "No, Mom!  I'm not really supposed to be voting."   It was super cute and the button got pushed too quickly before I could get the camera ready.

Even Sam got in on the voting process and her Pre-K class had an election on which snack to serve -- noodles or crackers.  I asked her how they voted...did they raise their hands to show which one they wanted?  Sam replied with, "No, we had to keep our answers a secret.  No one could know what we were picking.  We had to cross something out on a piece of paper and put it in the box."   In case this particular election doesn't get announced on the nightly news, the majority picked crackers, despite Sam, Ainsley and Jacob picking noodles.  So much for confidentiality among the 4 year olds.

I remember fondly the first time I ever got to vote.  It was the 1992 election and I was in college.  The election had Bill Clinton and H. Ross Perot running against the incumbent George H.W. Bush.  How great that all 3 men running were left handed?  I was so giddy and excited to be able to vote that on my way out of the local voting hall, I had to restrain myself from hugging the complete stranger walking out the same time I did.  I really don't think this man would've appreciated being assaulted on the way to his car.  One of my friends in college came up with the idea to call the Democratic National Headquarters and ask where the party was going to be held for the volunteers.  We were told the Hilton in downtown D.C.   The four of us crashed the volunteer's party, celebrating everyone's hard work (not ours, of course!) during the campaign.  It was beyond exciting being there and I remember going to a pay phone and calling my mom to tell her to look for me on tv.  My friends and I stood out among the thousands of partygoers, because as soon as we walked in the gigantic ballroom, we noticed the table centerpieces and quickly made them into wearable headwear.  The centerpieces were patriotic red, white, and blue standard-sized cardboard hats with red, white and blue carnations sticking out of the top of the hats.  I can imagine how silly we looked, but we got caught up in the moment and was having a blast.  I remember people asking us where we got our cool looking hats and some even offered us money for them.  

When the results were announced, during a live broadcast at the party, the entire room erupted into cheers and applause.  It was pretty amazing.  As the party was winding down, we jumped into a cab and went to Au Pied De Cochon in Georgetown (totally dating myself here -- this restaurant has been closed for some time), because they were opened late, late into the wee hours of the morning.  When the four of us walked in (still wearing the centerpieces on our heads), the entire restaurant clapped and cheered for us.  It was pretty darn cool.  Ah, how wonderful to be living in Washington, D.C. during this time. 

My subsequent voting experiences have been incredibly dull compared to the one in 1992.  However, yesterday made me all giddy again with joy as I showed Ian democracy in action.

No matter how this election turns out, we will always have another chance to have our voices heard and our votes counted.  That's just one of the reasons that makes this country so fantastic.