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Wednesday, October 15, 2008

It Was A Beautiful Day For A Swearing In

Today was a big big day for the Kay family.

All three of us got up at 5:30 a.m.

We got dressed up in our finest. Gabi in a red, white and blue dress with lacy socks and her white patent leather shoes. Gilberto in his best suit and tie (oh, man, does he look handsome in a suit).

We drove downtown to the courthouse, paid $24 for parking and walked a mile to take our place in line.

After two hours, we made it to the front doors and separated. Gilberto stayed downstairs to fill out some paperwork and then go alone into a large auditorium, and Gabi and I went up into the guest balcony to watch from above.

A banjo duo strummed out a few songs to start the ceremony, including This Land Is Your Land (LOVE that song, and yes, I sang along), and the men of the Elks Musical Society finished up the opening act with a few a Capella numbers.

And then my husband was sworn in as a Citizen of the United States of America.

I have never been more proud to say the Pledge of Allegiance than I was today. Me in a balcony, Gilberto down below, our hands on our hearts, both of us so thankful to live in a country that believes in freedom.

But I'm not one to get sappy, so that's enough of that.

51 comments:

  1. Congrats Gilberto!!!! I know it's been a long wait but you're finally an American citizen. That's great! Now you can realize your long time dream of becoming one of CHP's finest.

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  2. Oh my goodness! That is AWESOME NEWS! I am so excited for your family! Will he be able to vote at the coming election, or is it too late for him to register? Either way, Oh GOODNESS that is such great news for Gilberto! Congratulations goes to you and your whole family!

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  3. Congratulations!! I can only imagine how amazing that must feel!! I am so happy for Gilberto and the family!!

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  4. Congratulations!! I can't image what it is like to not know the privledges of this great country from birth. What a great achievement!!

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  5. That is wonderful!
    How proud you all must be.
    I hear the test is a hard one.
    I would be blubbering all over the place. I know you had an amazing day.
    How did you celebrate?

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  6. Congratulations to Gilberto!! That's wonderful.
    I remember when my dad and grandparents became citizens. Both were great days!

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  7. Congratulations--to all of you!! What a wonderful, special day.

    And for the record I started singing This Land is Your Land when I read that title.

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  8. This land is made for you and meee.... LOL. Least you probably weren't alone singing that one.

    (see? There I am. Not lurking. Commenting. Ha!)

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  9. Congrats :)

    I am glad to be an American with your lovely ENTIRE family :)

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  10. Wonderful! How touching... congratulations to Gilberto and the rest of the family.

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  11. Congrats Gilberto! What a lovely sentiment. Thank you for sharing.

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  12. That is awesome!!!

    Congratulations, and I love that you are so proud!

    Makes my former high school history teacher heart swell with pride too! :)

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  13. This is certainly a day that will never be forgotten.

    I am so happy for you ALL. A major accomplishment, another reason for pride; what an awesome day!

    -Andrea

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  14. Wow! Congratulations to Gilberto!!!

    Now I have a question... does everybody that gets married to an american has to do that?

    hugs!

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  15. That is SOOO great! Congratulations Gilberto!!! And congratulations to your family ;)

    Is it weird that Neil Diamond's "They're coming to America" song just started playing in my head?

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  16. I have heard the most born-here-Americans couldn't pass the test, so this is a huge accomplishment in my books.

    Way to be sappy, for a little bit.

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  17. I understand what you and your husband must be feeling. Apart from voting, the best thing for me about becoming a citizen was being able to go through immigration at US airports, together with my family rather than being separated in line and being made to feel like an intruder when my husband and kids were welcomed as US citizens in another line.

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  18. Hooray!! I'm sure you are all very proud. HOORAY!

    - Suzanne, the Farmer's Wife

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  19. Don't worry about being sappy... I cried for you here!

    Mazal Tov! That's fantastic news. What a great day.

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  20. Go ahead and be sappy (and PROUD)...I'm sitting here struggling to see the keyboard because of the tears in my eyes. What a WONDERFUL day for your family.

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  21. YEA! Major congrats to Gilberto and your family! It sounds like an awesome day for sure!

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  22. What a truly amazing day your family had! Congratulations Gilberto. **smile, sniff, smile**

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  23. Congratulations! What a wonderful and exciting day for your family. Thanks for sharing it with us.

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  24. Congratulations!! So happy for your family... this is a fabulous country, made more so by the Mamasphere family!

    Thanks for letting us peek at the moment.

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  25. yipppeee!! huge moment indeed honey!!

    congrats to you all :)

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  26. Congratulations! What a momentous family moment.

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  27. Fantastic! What a journey! Congratulations!

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  28. My grandmother was sworn in as a US citizen nearly 50 years ago ans she still talks about it as if it were yesterday. Congratulations!

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  29. Hello from Canada! You must be so proud. I love the look of your blog and your style of writing is incredible!

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  30. Congratulations to Gilberto!! What a wonderful day for you all! I Have a huge smile on my face for you guys. My hubby is a naturalized citizen as well. I know how wonderful that is!

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  31. OH GILBERTO!!!!! CONGRATS!!! Now, I hope Mamasphere was waiting for you with some McDonalds, NASCAR t-shirts, and canned beer....you know, so you can REALLY be an American now.

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  32. That's awesome!! Congratulations!! Very exciting :)

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  33. Wonderful!!! When can he register to vote???

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  34. Congratulations Gilberto!
    What exciting news!!!
    Happy Celebrating!

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  35. Congratulations!!!! :-D Lo Gung did the whole test/swearing in ages before I met him, so I never got to see it happen.

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  36. Congratulations to Gilbert and to your family!

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  37. Congratulations to all three of you! An excellent day indeed.

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  38. Hi Laural, this is great!!!! Tell Gilberto "Parabens" for his accomplishment!

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  39. God Bless America My Home Sweet Home.... I'm sure the words to that song are meaning more than any of us could possibly know right now. A big CONGRATULATIONS to Gilberto.

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  40. Great! One more person to help pay for the bailout! Yea!

    Seriously though, Congrats, I'm sure it was a day to remember for your family!

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  41. Congrats to Gilberto! Its good to know there are still people out there who want to be Americans and are proud of our country!

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  42. CONGRATS to Gilberto! WOW! I have chills! This is just so wonderful!

    ~melody~

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  43. WOW...congrats to Gilberto and the whole family. So good to see people who are proud to be citizens of this great country. And who do it the right way!

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  44. Congrats! What a wonderful day for all of you!!!!

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  45. What a touching story - Thanks for sharing. Congratulations to your hubby! AND...thanks for reminding us all of the honor in being an American.

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  46. Congratulations!! That was a happy day for ya!

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  47. Awesome! Congrats Gilberto and fam!

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  48. Wow. Nice post- reminds of the amazing gift it was to be born American, so many people take being American for granted.

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