"I Pledge Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America..."

After 3 1/2 years of waiting, Brad is now officially a citizen of the United States of America!  If you didn't know Brad wasn't a citizen, you're not alone.  We didn't either until 3 1/2 years ago, but that's another story!

I was excited to view the process of becoming a citizen; Brad was anxious for it to be over and done with. The road to citizenship was long, expensive, and sometimes frustrating.  He passed the interview and exam over a month ago, but had to provide more documentation about his voting record, so when he finally got the letter telling him to report for the naturalization ceremony on March 27th at 11:20 AM, he was very relieved. 

We arrived early and sat in a large waiting room with lots of other people, probably 150 or so.  When it was time for the naturalization ceremony to start, family and friends were invited into the back of the auditorium to watch.  About half of the people there were family and friends.  We waited while the "candidates" were organized and filed into the room.  Each person had an assigned seat, so Brad wasn't able to sit near me. 

A few people spoke about the importance of becoming a citizen, we sang The Star Spangled Banner, a video about citizenship was played, and President Obama congratulated the candidates for taking the steps to become citizens.  Another video to the song, "Proud to be an American" was played and we said the Pledge of Allegiance together, which brought tears to my eyes.  I felt the importance and blessing of being a citizen of the United States in a way I hadn't before.  

Then all the countries represented were called out.  The candidates stood when their country of origin was named...77 people representing 32 countries from American Samoa to Western Samoa, and all points in between, all the way around the world!  Russia and The Philippines had the most, nine people each.  (The citizenship ceremony is performed four times a week, and that's just in the Seattle office...that's a lot of new citizens)  The candidates then repeated the oath together and were declared citizens of the United States of America.  The woman below spoke and congratulated the new citizens, saying, "We are now equals. You  enjoy all the rights and privileges of being a citizen of the United States of America that I was born with."  Finally, each person's name was read out and their naturalization certificate presented.   The woman presenting the certificates wished Brad "Good Luck" as she shook his hand.  

Since Brad has always thought he was a U.S. citizen, the ceremony probably wasn't as meaningful to him as it was for someone who has long desired to become a citizen.  But it was still very interesting and moving, and I'm grateful I had the opportunity to witness it.  And Brad is even more grateful that the process is over! He gets to vote in the upcoming presidential election, and he can go to the shooting range with Kylie any time he wants!