Dobay studied the piece of paper, and then it hit her.
"You just became a citizen this morning," she said.
He nodded and smiled.
Connie Shultz is a columnist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. (Full disclosure: She's also married to Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) -- but that's got nothing to do with this story.) She wrote a piece that appeared in yesterday's paper about her visit to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections on the last day of voter registration. If you're losing faith in your democracy, even a little, it's worth the read!
The article is titled "Hope on the faces of new voters" and you can read the entire thing here:
http://www.cleveland.com/...
The very best part -- the part that still has me blubbering today, is this:
He is an immigrant from Senegal. When she asked his name, he handed her an official-looking document.
Dobay studied the piece of paper, and then it hit her.
"You just became a citizen this morning," she said.
He nodded and smiled.
She congratulated him, and so did her colleagues sitting on either side of her. With each congratulations, the man smiled and said, "Thank you."
Just exactly how cool is that? To come so far, to learn so much to pass the citizenship test, and to make it just under the wire to be allowed to vote in your new country for the very first time?
I'm proud to say that our Board of Elections made an appropriate fuss over him.
"So many came forward to shake his hand," Dobay said. "I get goose bumps just thinking about it."
Nobody knew what country he came from.
Nobody knew how he would cast his vote, either.
And nobody cared.
For just a moment, all anyone cared about was the chance to welcome a new American who is full of hope.
I remember -- that's what it's all about! And big thanks to Connie Schultz for sharing it with us.