What Does U.S. Citizenship Mean To You?
Today I stood in a room with fifty other people and I raised my right hand as I swore an oath to the United States.
Today, I became an American citizen.
The fifty-one of us represented twenty-five different countries including Yemen, Jordan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iraq, Iran, China, Vietnam Pakistan, Switzerland, Germany, the United Kingdom, and of course, me – Canada. And you know what we all had in common? The judge presiding over our Naturalization Ceremony pointed out that we were all excited, we were all honored to be joining something amazing – the United States of America.
I have lived here in the U.S. since I was a little girl, but today, I adopted the rights and responsibilities and, I will admit, I cried. My husband, my small people and my father-in-law were there to bear witness. All 51 of us stood individually, shared our names, our countries of birth and our occupations.
I heard America the Beautiful and the Star Spangled Banner with new ears. I said the Pledge of Allegiance with a new heart.
I walked from the room at the end of the ceremony and I registered to vote.
I ask you to watch the video, if you will, to fully understand my emotion. And then I ask… have you thought about what your U.S. Citizenship means to you.
Thank you for watching.
Read more from Danielle on Strollerderby and her personal sites ExtraordinaryMommy and DanielleSmithMedia.
You can also follow her on Twitter.
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