Proud. Just plain, proud.

Today is "voting day." The day I have the right to walk into my precint and cast my vote. Some may say that a single vote doesn't count. I don't believe that. In fact, I believe the opposite. Each and every persons vote DOES matter. Today as I drove up to my precint which happens to be at the Club House in the subdivision where I live I saw a line. And then I saw where the line began. I looked back at my 2 and 3 year old and thought, "Whew, what am I doing??!! This is not going to be a good experience." So as I parked the car and walked up to the end of the line I looked around. Looked at my watch. Wondered how long this would take. Gave my girls the third degree to be good. Stay out of the parking lot. No running around. Etc., etc., etc. Then it hit. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I have this privilege. The privilege to vote in America. Like so many other countries, people can't voice their choices and opinions. And I'm proud to live in America where I can voice my choice. As I stood there in line watching my girls holding hands and running around a tree, the tears began to flow. I thought to myself, "Instead of standing here in line upset because I have to wait a few hours to cast my vote and I know meltdown time is right around the corner, I'm going to be glad that I even have this opportunity." The opportunity to vote. To be proud to be an American. As I stood there with sunglasses on, and tears covering my cheeks I thought about my brother. I thought about how he is sleeping on rooftops in Iraq and how he sometimes sleeps in abandoned homes with rats and mice scurring around him and how dangerous the conditions are in which he lives in. I thought about him. And thought about him. And how thankful I am for him and all the others fighting for our freedom and for others freedom. Because of them, we have our freedom. We have choices. So today, as I stood in line, I made a conscious choice. Instead of being upset because I knew I was going to have to wait in line for hours, I choose to stand there with my head up high and thankful that I was given this opportunity. The opportunity to vote. The opportunity to voice my opinion. The opportunity to show my girls what their "Uncle Jonny" is fighting for.