Citizenship

Today I was reminded of the things that most of us living in this country take for granted every day. Grace received her Certificate of Citizenship and a letter from the President that began, "My Fellow American" in the mail.

I have been to many other countries and have found most of them really appealing for different reasons. I have even lived for a short time in Spain and Japan. But most of the time I don't think twice about what it means to be an American. Thousands of people risk or give up everything to come here every day. I witnessed them waiting in line at the US Embassy in Guatemala City trying to do it legally and then we see others on the news all the time sneaking in hidden in the bottom of trucks or climbing over walls and fences in the middle of the night. I remember a trip to southern California one time where there were road signs like those we have here for "deer crossing" with people on them, warning drivers to be careful of people who might dart across the road unexpectedly. It really makes you reflect on what we have here that so many people do not have in other places. That despite our country's problems, we have a lot to be grateful for.

So, even though my little girl became a US citizen on March 11, 2008, today we are grateful to have that document in our hands to prove it. And I want to share it with you.

(I intentionally covered some identifying information.)