I Voted

My husband and I dashed into the voting polls (kids in tow) at around 6:30pm last night. Alexandria (my 7 year old) has been pretty interested in the whole process. So on the way home from voting I told her that originally women were not allowed to vote. I explained that back then their opinions were not considered important, furthermore it was considered that they should just adopt whatever opinion their father or husband had. I asked her what she thought about this and without any hesitation (that’s my girl!) she replied “not fair”. Afterwards, I actually began to feel elated by being part of something so historic; something so much bigger then myself. Not just having voted for the first Black president, but for having voted. Yeah, I voted in the last two elections but it wasn’t quite the same. This election was big. Plus after explaining to my daughter how women were not allowed to vote in the past, I realized that even if my single vote would somehow never get counted, even if the person I chose hadn’t won….I still voted. I still practiced a right that many American women fought for; a right that our soldiers still fight to keep today—Freedom. The Freedom of choice, Freedom to walk into the voting booth and give my opinion. I was able to look at two potential candidates and then choose who I wanted as my nation’s leader; and my opinion was not silenced.