Election Day~ Confederate and Union Soldiers

This is a pin given to me by my Grandmother Ruth. She and all of my grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles, teachers and friends have always been proponents of "the right to vote".

I do feel I was "raised up right", to vote, to support my country and especially those people within it. It is easy to support neighbors and friends and the people we get along with and like. What I've learned is it is just important to stand tall when things aren't going the way we like them to. When the economy, the government and other aspects seem to be headed in the wrong direction, instead of complaining about it, I've learned that we become active and do something.......anything is better than sitting around doing nothing. Voting is an important action, it is what makes us a democratic nation. I'm pretty sure I am "preaching to the choir" as I post this! It's a good bet that regular blog readers are already active voters and safe to say, "Ya'll are my kind of people"!

I am kind of chuckling as we've been talking a lot about politics and history in our household. For Halloween, the boys dressed up as Civil War Soldiers. One from the north (he likes blue) and one from the south (he thought grey was cool!) The oldest knew what was behind the color, the youngest hasn't been in fifth grade American History class. He was absolutly horrified that people would have ever fought to keep slaves. He felt bad about his choice of hat color; this is a kid who is a genuinely LOVES people and animals. He's the humanitarian of the family, without a doubt. We explained that this was an important point in our past and that at times, when it gets really bad and people can't get along, that there are fights, really, really bad fights, like the one going on in Iraq right now. It is hard for a nine-year-old to fathom the concept of war, fighting and killing. We did the best we could to explain honor, standing up and fighting for freedom and the importance of Democracy.

I don't know that I was as clear as I could have been but Paker was ready to go vote at the end of the speech. Of coarse, he was crushed when I explained that he had to wait until he was 18. "Geeze I have to wait until I'm 16 to drive and 25 something to have a cell phone, so its just like everything else, you have to be OLD to have any fun!" 

That made me laugh because my thought, at age 38, is quite the opposite! Did you remember how "cool" it would be to vote someday? Did you wait with joyful anticipation for the day when you could cast your ballot? I had parents, grandparents and one awesome History teacher (thanks Mr. Tuton) that made sure I knew what a privilege it was to do so! I'm very grateful for their positive influences!

So here's to a day to honor our roots, our traditions and most of all to exercise our rights as American citizens! Let's Vote!