Today I am grateful to be an American, to have the right to vote and to make my vote count for something. I have a larger than normal patriotic streak within me. I am proud of the red, the white and the blue. I love patriotic songs and the 4th of July, I was impacted greatly by the events on 9.11 though the pain and loss was not felt intimately. I am an American over anything else. I do not define myself as a democrat or a republican. Nor do I concern myself with others beliefs. Whether you affiliate to a party, a belief, a gut feeling or the focus on the “lesser of two evils”, I respect your right to vote. I respect all opinions and understand different beliefs. I respect the concerns others carry, the social matters they align with and their right to vocalize their opinion as loudly as possible. I only wish we could respect one another more for our differing beliefs and our strong stances on opposing social matters. And today, today I am grateful for the right to have differing beliefs and the opportunity to have our voices heard.

I rocked my vote!