Election Day

There are so many thoughts running through my head this election day. Here are a few of them:

• Chris woke up early, threw on some clothes and walked to our polling location. He waited for about an hour to vote. I woke up earlier than normal, showered and then headed to the polling place. By that time Chris was home, having done his civic duty. He got dressed, I finished waiting about 45 minutes and voted. Then we met at Starbucks for our free voting day coffee and both headed to work. There are very few things that have Chris and me waking up early. Free coffee isn't one of them.
• Being a life-long Ohio resident, I've always been pretty much assured real American status. We're in the heartland here and I never thought my level of American-ness would be questioned. After all, I live in a place with a really large state fair that features a cow made out of butter. With the butter cow, all the fields of corn, and the rich presidential history, I didn't think until this election cycle that my claim on being American would ever be questioned.
• We live in a Democracy, but we also live in a representative Democracy. We don't each go and vote on each issue in Washington DC, that would be chaos. Instead we choose people to speak for us. We should pick the best and brightest among us. I've had beer with plenty of people, and I wouldn't trust any of them with the foreign relations of this country. Who you would like to have beer with is not, and never has been, a valid criterion for choosing our President.
• Clearly the Olive was with me when I voted this morning. More now than ever before I want to make sure the world is going to be a good and safe place for whoever he or she turns out to be. A country of hate and division is not a place I want to raise my child. I want my child to have opportunity and to treasure education and to have access to both.
• A couple of tears rolled down my face as I voted for Mr. Barack Obama to be our President. It was overwhelming to me to vote for Change and believe it might actually happen.