The Ceremony

Yesterday, my husband was sworn in as a citizen of the United States. It was a really nice ceremony, and is the culmination of ten years of dealings with the CIS, who was the INS when this journey began for my husband with his first visa to enter this country. I felt very happy for all of the immigrants, who represented over 30 countries on every continent (except Antartica – no penguins… sorry…) and the families who held cameras to take photos of people taking their oath of citizenship and receiving their naturalization certificates. In the midst of all of the flag waving and applause, I couldn’t help but wonder how much of what it means to be an American is taken for granted by those of us who are born here.