Tuesday, November 02, 2004

My husband and I voted this morning at 6:30am

We got to our precinct at about 6:10 there were 14 people already standing in front of us when we got there. By the time the polls opened at 6:30 am there was atleast 40-50 people behind us. We switched places with this guy when we realized they were letting in 5 at a time. We didn't want to split up .. so we were 16 and 17 to walk through the door. We were done and home by 6:45.

Some how today feels like one of those days that you will tell your kids about one day. I think today's election is going to have a major impact on my children's future one way or the other. No matter who wins or loses. That's just the feeling I get. I remember rubbing my belly and the baby while standing in the line. I told Charles that one day we could tell little bit that she/he was with us that day when we voted.

For Charles it was a pretty momentus thing. It was the first time he has EVER voted. He will be 32 in January so that tells you something. It probably didn't hurt that I brought home the voter registration card. Handed it to him with a pen, and then I turned it in for him. But the voting he did for himself. And he researched the races and made himself a "cheat sheet" as he called it so as to remember who he was supposed to vote for when he got there.

For me voting is a big thing. I don't care who you vote for (even though I hope my guy wins of course) but I want you (that's a general you encompassing everyone that can vote) to vote. When I think of how hard our fore-mothers had to fight to get the right to vote, it makes me realize that I can never take that right for granted. Some of the sufragettes (I know I am probably spelling that wrong) were even imprisoned, beaten and starved for their fight for this particular right. Not to mention all the Afghanistan women who went to the polls for the first time not so long ago who went there in defiance of the fact that they had been recieving death threats. Someone today mentioned something about standing in line. I mentioned what the Afghanistani women went through to vote and I told them I could handle standing in line for a few minutes.

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