My wife and I are teachers and have a 5 month old daughter we call Kathryn Hope.
After 9 months of hospitalization, my mother, partially for health reasons and mainly because she can no longer afford to own her own home of 35 years, was forced to move in with us. We can't put her home on the market until after the first of the year (at least) and once it sells, we'll build a Mother-In-Law apartment on our property.
Today, the three of us sat down with our ballots and voted as a block.
Today, we put our country first.
Today, we voted for Barack Obama and Joe Biden to lead our great country.
And damn it feels good.
It feels good because for the first time in my 41 years on planet earth, I am 100% voting FOR someone for president - as opposed to 50% FOR someone and 50% AGAINST their opponent (or some other percentage ratio).
It feels good because I know my state of Washington will deliver its 11 Electoral Votes towards victory for Obama.
It feels good because I believe my daughter will have brighter future with their leadership than if she didn't have it.
It feels good because I teach at a high school that is blessed to have a diverse population and an atmosphere of respect (not "tolerance") and I can now look all of them in the eye and say, "You can too."
It feels good because I believe that for the first time in my lifetime all of us are going to be asked to serve in some way towards fixing what ails us - economy, environment, infrastructure, war... you name it.
It feels good because my ballot is sent and now I can focus on pushing friends and relatives to do the same.
It feels good because the Michelle Bachmans of our great country have no fucking idea what it means to be an American and with my vote I spit in their face.
It feels good because I sent Jay Inslee back to Congress to support Obama.
It feels good because our three votes really could make the difference in the Governor's race. Damn, Chris Gregoire is in a tight one.
Did I mention it feels good?