The first time I voted was in a local election in Houston. I went with my mom and dad to Rummel Creek Elementary school.
I had my brand-new voter registration card which I'd received after my 18th birthday in April of 1983.
We walked up to the school and the signs showed that the Republican primary was held to the right, and the Democratic primary to the left.
My parents headed right, and I headed left. My dad looked back and said, "No, sweetie, over here..." and I said, "No, Dad, I'm voting Democratic." He shook his head and smiled and we all went about our business.
Later, talking about this, my mom predicted that once I was making some money and the government was taking it from me, my politics would change. I was rather insulted by that at the time. Fortunately, I have gotten over the insult; it wasn't meant as one. And fortunately, my politics have not changed. I'm grateful to be the same me I always was.
I feel passionate about voting. I ALWAYS vote. Mrs. Whatley, my high school Government teacher, made us promise we would always vote every time we had the chance. I've voted in some fairly obscure local elections I had no idea about, and had to do the research ahead of time because of it.
Every time I vote, I say, "Mrs. Whatley, that was for you."
This weekend I took my parents to vote. My mom is in a rehab facility and getting out is hard for her. After we got inside, we learned that curbside voting is available...they'd have brought the ballots out for my parents. Oh, well! we managed it.
Here are my folks, getting ready to vote on Sunday in Tom Green County:
I would like to note that they are both prepared to cancel my vote (cast on Tuesday in Denton County). That's part of how voting works.
Mrs. Whatley, this was for you.
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