Today, I am an American

On Friday, I took the oath and became an American citizen.  I can’t claim to be escaping an authoritarian regime or hopeless poverty.  Indeed, the security guard at the INS saw my passport and said "What you doing here?  Why you want to be American?  Free medical care, free welfare.  I want to be Canadian."   So why did I make the leap?  There are plenty of pragmatic reasons.  I have a home here, a job, a life.  The United States has been good to me.

But the deciding factor in my choice was emotional.  Four years ago when I awoke to the devastation, I felt that my country had been attacked.  And if that is how you feel then what more needs to be said?

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