Ever since I was a little girl, my mom has told my sister and I that it’s our responsibility to vote. It’s more than a right. It’s something we’re lucky to be able to do. It’s something that we’re OBLIGATED to do. In a country based on the idea of a government for the people, by the people…the people MUST speak. 

My mom was not overly political with us. She was neither conservative, nor liberal. She let us make up our own minds. She took us with her many times when she voted. She practiced what she preached. From the time my son was born, he’s gone with me to vote. I’ve tried to share this same legacy with my oldest, just as my mother did with me.

So, with that, it caught me off guard this morning, as I was driving my daughter to school and we had the radio on the local college station.  The DJs were discussing voting. Their tone was cynical and negative. If it was satire, it was so thickly veiled that I was struggling to know if they were serious or not…and it hit me.  My daughter was listening to this. My daughter, was hearing how these local “celebrities” thought voting was stupid. These celebrities that talk daily about her favorite bands, that announce concerts she can only dream about for another decade or so. And my heart cried, I was physically saddened by the thought of this and as we parked the car.

After what seemed like minutes of trying to remove the lump from my throat and the tear from my eye, I told her that voting is important. That when she gets older, it’s not only her right, it’s her job. And today, I will leave work early enough to pick her up and take her with me to vote. She needs to see the practice in action. I won’t allow someone else to let me children decide what’s important.  I’ll never tell her how to vote or what to think, but I will teach her to exercise her right…and do what is right. It’s not only my responsibility as her mother, it’s my right.