Election Day

I told myself 4 years ago during the last election that I was going to vote in this one. I was going to apply for my citizenship in time, get registered to vote, and vote in what has turned out to be the most important election of our lifetimes. Then life happened. I waited until I finished college, so I would be making money to pay the fees. Then I moved over and over again. After talking to someone at church, I decided to wait until I knew I would be living in the same place for a year or so before I applied. (He had moved across the country and the government has lost his application, and he said it ended up taking over a year to get his citizenship.) Then, Stephen and I met and quickly got serious. By the time we got engaged, I figured I may as well wait until we were married, so I wouldn't have to change my name during the process. Of course, I didn't know when we got engaged that we would be moving shortly after the wedding to a new city...and that we would buy our first house les than 6 months after moving. So, life happened, and before I knew it, it was June of this year, which is when I finally submitted my $700 application (yeah I know, I could have paid about half that price if I had gotten my act together last year)...but who has an extra $700, or even $400 when they are planning a wedding?? Anyway, I didn't know if my citizenship would go through in time, but I held out hope. I got my interview letter, and was scheduled for September 15. The hurricane came through the weekend before I was supposed to have my interview...so the interview never happened and was rescheduled for 2 weeks ago. In Texas, the voter registration deadline was the beginning of October. If my interview had happened as scheduled, I may have gotten to take the oath in time. I know they held an "emergency" ceremony for people who didn't make their own ceremony because of the hurricane. Anyway, long story short, hearing about everyone voting, and seeing how excited Stephen is (he printed out a sample ballot and has been researching his choices all weekend) makes me a little bit unhappy that I don't get to participate today. My voice won't be heard in this election. But I will be there next time!