VOTED!
Yobachi over at Black Perspective is calling for people to share their voting stories. This is ours.
We woke to a gorgeous, warm Autumn morning. My husband, Winston and I walked into the sunshine filled with excitement and optimism. Our polling place is in the park one block from our house. It is a small, grey cinder block building which used to be Westinghouse's laboratory. My son only knows it as "the voting building."
Approaching the polling place, we encountered sign after Obama sign. There was not a single McCain sign in sight and one sign for Nadar/Gonzalez. (WTF? How did I miss that?)
We entered and were happily signed in by our neighbor. As she gave me my card to sign, Winston proudly stated his name and looked on eagerly, as if she would produce a card for him. A late middle years African-American gentleman guided me and Winston to our voting machine. He gave Winston a short tutorial on how to use the machine. Winston nodded and listened, then stated, "Just like last time, right?" This generated a chuckle.
As I pulled up the ballot, I asked Winston if he wanted to push the buttons. He said, "No." I think he was really worried that he might mess it up. He seemed to understand how high the stakes are. Instead, he offered to push the next button.
Finally, it was time to push the flashing red button, which he did with great concentration and controlled excitement. As we left the booth, the elder shook his hand and thanked him for voting. We walked back out into the sunshine and played at the park.
It occured to me that he will remember this election for the rest of his life. It made me realize this would be a story he would tell his grandchildren about one day. And I can't think of any better civics or history lesson that I could offer. Then again, this is why we home educate because life is filled with so many beautiful lessons.
We woke to a gorgeous, warm Autumn morning. My husband, Winston and I walked into the sunshine filled with excitement and optimism. Our polling place is in the park one block from our house. It is a small, grey cinder block building which used to be Westinghouse's laboratory. My son only knows it as "the voting building."
Approaching the polling place, we encountered sign after Obama sign. There was not a single McCain sign in sight and one sign for Nadar/Gonzalez. (WTF? How did I miss that?)
We entered and were happily signed in by our neighbor. As she gave me my card to sign, Winston proudly stated his name and looked on eagerly, as if she would produce a card for him. A late middle years African-American gentleman guided me and Winston to our voting machine. He gave Winston a short tutorial on how to use the machine. Winston nodded and listened, then stated, "Just like last time, right?" This generated a chuckle.
As I pulled up the ballot, I asked Winston if he wanted to push the buttons. He said, "No." I think he was really worried that he might mess it up. He seemed to understand how high the stakes are. Instead, he offered to push the next button.
Finally, it was time to push the flashing red button, which he did with great concentration and controlled excitement. As we left the booth, the elder shook his hand and thanked him for voting. We walked back out into the sunshine and played at the park.
It occured to me that he will remember this election for the rest of his life. It made me realize this would be a story he would tell his grandchildren about one day. And I can't think of any better civics or history lesson that I could offer. Then again, this is why we home educate because life is filled with so many beautiful lessons.
Comments
As you said else where, it would be good for us to catalogue these moments.