Citizen J


It happened really fast... The letter arrived on Wednesday saying that the ceremony would be on Friday.

Yup, Jonas is being sworn in as a US Citizen today!

And it was a truly wonderful day. Jonas' dear friend Heather joined me at the ceremony and we cheered him and all the others on. And afterwards we went to Custom House for a celebratory drink. (We all also got burgers because we figured, what could be more American than that?)

My favorite part of the ceremony was when they said that between 193 new citizens, 49 countries were represented. And then they called out the names of the countries one by one and each person stood as their country of origin was called. Hearing the diversity of countries was one of those moments that reminds you that we are, indeed, a nation of immigrants. Everyone is from somewhere else. Chills ran through me as I watched 49 different countries come together into one nation.

There were also a whole bunch of television crews there because amongst the 193 people becoming citizens was an 86 year old man in hospice care. He led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance at the end -- a perfect way to end the ceremony.

There were so many photos I wanted to post that I decided to try my hand at a web based slideshow. (It's my first time with this, so hopefully it will work right!)

(Click on the Flags to view the slideshow...)



Posted: Fri - September 14, 2007 at 10:28 AM          

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