Fantu went along with us but Abate stayed home as it was the first week of football practice. He was stressing about all the what-ifs if he missed a practice so we agreed to let him stay behind rather than make him go and have him be miserable for the day. Fantu was at times a bit bored by it all. I did get the opportunity to take her to the Alamo and a quick bit of shopping before the ceremony began.
On the way home she asked " Why do so many people want to become Americans? " So many different reasons - as many as there are people doing it. During the ceremony they listed and had the people stand as they read off all 68 countries represented there that day. Some of them do make you wonder. Norway, Switzerland, Germany, Ireland, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Canada and Brazil. Others seem a bit more obvious - Nigeria, Ghana, Bosnia, Burma, Cambodia, China, Vietnam, Mexico, Ethiopia, Czechoslovakia. Why do they take the risk - a leap of faith to start over in a foreign land. Again there are probably as many reasons as there are people. But with Fantu we talked about the more obvious - Economic opportunities here and the freedoms we enjoy that many other people around the world do not share. By becoming a citizen of the United States they are guaranteed these rights and the possibility of personal success not only to themselves but to their children and hopefully future generations.
Our BB-Q to celebrate was great fun. The kids had a load of friends over which they thoroughly enjoyed and Alan and I had family, friends and neighbors join us to share this once in a lifetime event. I even had a good friend that I hadn't seen in 6 years make the drive to spend a few hours with us. All the planning and prep and one very tired hostess was well worth it to have a day that we will long remember.
The girls all got into the spirit of the day and showed us that they can all be a "Uncle Sam too!"
Proud to be an American.
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