Just a day and a half now and I'll take my oath as a Canadian citizen. I'm thinking about what this means today, to me and my life and my country.
As for myself, it means the culmination of a decade and a-half journey that started in the US, when I met a beautiful Canadian woman who changed my life utterly. Through all the frustrations of obtaining permanent residence and bringing our lives together here in Canada, we always had faith and hope in the future. We dreamt of the best outcome while preparing for the worst. You can read here that it took us a long time to gain my permanent residence, but we persisted. And then the process began to obtain citizenship. Primarily a waiting game, but also one of integrating myself into Canada, understanding personally its culture and values and ingraining them into my own as I learned about the history of the country, the political system and the responsibilities of being a citizen.
My life changes again on Friday when I become a citizen. I will be able to travel the world as a Canadian - a lot easier these days when compared to traveling as an American. I will be able to vote and serve on a jury and fully participate in the life of my home country.
And what does Canada get? They get someone proud to wave their flag, to stand for their values, to contribute to their society and culture. They get a successful Canadian author! That's not bad. They get someone who understands what a special place this is and who is committed to spend the rest of my life working to help it remain that way.
The oath awaits. I'm sort of excited if you can't tell.
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