American Pie

A lot of my colleagues at work voted for the first time yesterday, and I want to share this email one of them sent me about her experience.

"I must tell you that for the first time in my life I felt like I actually mattered yesterday. That a decision I make about not only my future but my 10 year old daughter’s future could possibly make something we’ve always been told is impossible become possible. So at 7am with sleep in my eyes I made my way down 4 blocks to my daughter’s school which is my polling site. Holding tight to my voter registration information I printed from the internet the day before I joined the line with people I know and people I don’t know. There we stood united, ready to cast our votes for whomever we choose with hope that it would be the change we so hopefully dreamed of. I felt a sense of empowerment. It was in the air. It seemed to surround all of us. Especially those like me who had never voted before. I felt a little ashamed of that for some time but that all went away once I got on that line. I waited merely an hour before being shuffled up to the booth. I was then greeted by a woman who made sure I was in the right area for my Election District, signed my name to account for my presence and then I was up. My heart pounded in my chest so hard I could literally feel it beat. Ever so gently I said to the woman, “Excuse me, this is the first time in my adult life that I’m voting. Would you be so kind as to show me how”. She stood up, took my hand and led me in. She explained to pull the lever to the right and push the switches for whomever I am choosing to the left. My boyfriend says before the lady stepped away from me I had already pushed the switch for Senator Obama. I made the rest of my selections, checked that I saw all the X’s and just to be sure slide my hand down all of my choices to make sure I didn’t miss one. I pulled the lever back to the left and TADA! I was done. It was one the best days of my life and I will never forget it."