In 1997, I took this picture of my adorable 4-year-old Russian daughter in her Winnie the Pooh dress as she entered Ring Factory Elementary School for her 1st day of kindergarten. She couldn't speak English and understood even less. But we explained, as best we could, that getting an education and being a respectful citizen of her community was her job. That, and playtime of course!
I took the top picture yesterday. It's my 18-year old still adorable American citizen daughter as she entered Ring Factory Elementary School to vote for the very first time. She does speak English now and is beginning to understand the complexities of living in this great country of ours. We explained that voting is her duty as an American citizen. (That, and shopping of course!) That it doesn't matter who you vote for but that you engage in the very freedom we fought to establish so many years ago. She was nervous--as I believe she should have been because voting is important. But, she did her best with the knowledge and feelings that she had. That's really all any of us can do.
I'm very proud of my Russian Monkey. She is truly an American!
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