A new mom milestone.
This one snuck up on me. It shouldn't have, but it did.
There are all these milestones you are taught to celebrate as a new parent, thanks in part to some overpriced baby journal that you must dutifully fill in as each new event comes to pass:
The first word. The first full sentence. The first favorite book. The first stuffed animal friend. The first friend friend. The first full night of sleep. The first birthday and first messy birthday cake photos.
What those books don’t tell you is that one day, you will get a call from a slightly breathless college student. She will tell you that she’s walking to the mailbox right now, holding her absentee ballot for the presidential election in hand — the ballot she requested on her own before you even had a chance to remind her of the deadline.
Then, you will think back to all the times you took her into the ballot booth with you — times the line was so long and times you were the only people there besides the poll workers. You will think of how you showed her how to fill in each circle next to a candidate’s name with a black or blue pen. You will remember explaining why some names appear in two columns, representing different parties, and why one of those columns we never touch (with very few exceptions). You will remember teaching her to flip the back of the ballot, because those proposals may be as important as the people on the front of the ballot. You will remember telling her stories about people dying for the right to vote, and why you will always, always tear up at the privilege.
You will remember her happily accepting the free FUTURE VOTER sticker each year, wearing it until it curled up and fell from her jacket lapel.
You will remember in 2019 when she posted an image on Instagram of her hand holding your own I VOTED sticker, changing the type to read MY MOM VOTED…AND I HELPED.
Five years later, you will hear a gentle shuffling of paper through your phone, then a light metallic clank.
She’ll exclaim, “It’s done!”
You can hear the smile.
She will even tell you that yes, of course she took the time to research the ballot proposals.
Your voice will tremble when you tell her how proud you are of her. And you know she’s proud of herself too, though she’d never say it.
You will hang up the phone and wow, will you cry.
And hopefully, you will remember to ask for an extra I VOTED sticker for her when you show up to the polls in person next week.
Tears here. I’ve held those little hands as we entered the booth; I’ve seen an aerial view on TV of the line my son is waiting in at his polling place in 2020, when the line snaked on for hours; I’ve accompanied my dad into the booth to help him cast his last ballot (for VP Al Gore); and I’ve beamed with joy to know my oldest grandchild joined the Penn State College Dems. 💙💙💙
Aww this made me tear up- my almost 8 yo was asked to step out of the voting room because he was a telling everyone in line to vote blue like his mom— but it truly warmed my heart when he said- we just voted for the first woman president! He was also singing Hamilton songs in line and talking about the founding of our country—it took 45 minutes in NC, at old courthouse in Guilford County. I told him he will get to vote in 2036, so it’s going to be a while! My 5 yo was not nearly as excited but I’m glad they both came with me.