To My Children on Election Day

One day, in the distant future, you will turn 18 and your Mother will insist that you register to vote. You maybe won't realize how important it is, or that your one vote can make a difference. You may not even care.

Go register anyway.

One day after that, it will be voting day and you might think it's easier to listen to a celebrity, or the media, or your friends, or even your parents instead of doing some research and deciding for yourself who or what to vote for.

Do the research anyway.

One day during a distant election season, you'll disagree with a friend, or co-worker, or family member about some candidate or issue and you might think you shouldn't stand up for your opinion and/or your right to have a differing opinion.

Stand up for yourself and your opinions anyway.

Another voting day, you might think the line is too long, or the issues don't matter that much to you, or you're just choosing the lesser of two evils, or that no one person can change anything in the government...and you might even consider not voting.

GO VOTE ANYWAY.

Because this is America. This is a democracy. This is a right we have that so many others in the world do not. Exercise that right.

Not because your Mother told you to...but because you can.