Dear Dad

You have been on my mind so much lately because Election Day is coming up. I always looked forward to Election Day because you took a vacation day and we would go out to the woods with the rest of the crew to deer scout. None of the crew even met for breakfast until after they all voted. Voting was simply an expectation. When I close my eyes and think of you in the woods, I see you in your USMC issued utility jacket sporting the “I Voted” sticker. After the day was over, you would add the sticker to your collection on the wall of the barn. I think of that jacket (that Caroline now wears proudly in college) and how appropriate it was for you to wear it to the polls.

You shared with us over and over through our lives that you enlisted for each of your tours in Vietnam because you wanted to preserve freedom and democracy. You felt an obligation to do what your Dad and his generation did when they saved the world from tyranny in the 40s.

Each time I enter the voting booth, I think of you, what you endured and why you endured it. And I also feel such an overwhelming gratitude that I was born in the United States and that I am your daughter. It is always an emotional time for me, even more so now that you are gone.

This year, there are people saying that they are not going to vote because there aren’t any good choices for President. That is one race on a very crowded ballot full of important races.