Liberty
731 people.
Over 50 countries.
Each, a story.
The balcony of the San Diego Civic Center was entirely occupied: stragglers in the aisles, strollers creating barricades between the upper and lower halves of the balcony, mingled with the snippets of dozens of languages that floated through the air. Families of different ethnicities had items strewn over entire rows of seats to view the ceremony honoring those becoming U.S. citizens. I had never been in a room with more culture than that—strong, united culture here in support of loved ones. I realized that watching these new Americans attain the citizenship they had worked so hard for would be a once in a lifetime opportunity. How often did you clearly see a person’s life change in a matter of a few hours? Seldom.
In the roll call of represented countries, an entire Iraqi family, a dozen in number, enthusiastically jumped out of their seats and waved to us in the balcony, the joyful smiles on each of their faces bringing tears to several around me.
New beginnings together.
“Laos?” One shy, small woman half-stood up from her chair and embarrassingly waved a tiny hand to represent her country.
On my own in a strange place.
A British woman and her adult twin son and daughter proudly stood for the United Kingdom, grinning and waving to their Belgian husband and father, Belgian aunt, and the American friends who spent an uncountable amount of nights praying earnestly for God to protect them from having to leave their home in America.
A 20-year battle – conquered.
One Mexican woman marched up to the microphone and described her enthusiasm for choosing to become an American, with her family cheering the entire time she spoke.
Finally.
A bent and stout man with a flushed face and white hair clutched his new United States’ Citizen Certificate as he approached his equally small and bent wife in the foyer, and amongst the applause of the enraptured families, I alone witnessed the tears sparkling on their cheeks and the quiet embrace they shared.
Our sacrifices were not in vain.
The District Office official watched as the Afghani man tried the signature of his new name, handed him the certificate with the official stamp and said, “Congratulations, Eric.”
A fresh start.
I will never understand the sacrifices these incredible people endured and the homes and lives they had to leave behind to become a United States’ citizen, but I know it’s people with this courage that continue to redefine America as the home of the brave.
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