INSPIRING STORY OF THE WEEK: Taking the Oath
INSPIRING STORY OF THE WEEK
Taking the Oath
by May Spangler
This is the Inspiring story of the day a French emigrant becomes a US citizen
When May married Dickie, immigrants to the United States could only become American citizens if they renounced their birth country. May was not ready to do that. Her green card gave her the same privileges as any American citizen, except for one. She was not permitted to vote. Twenty-five years later, May realized she now lived longer in the USA than in her beloved France. Perhaps it was time to become an American like her husband and three sons.
May finally took the plunge. Standing in an Atlanta ceremonial courtroom, she took the oath along with 141 other immigrants. She could barely croak out the words when she lifted her right hand and agreed to renounce “absolutely and entirely” so much that she had always loved: her French heritage, its language and her hometown of Paris.
The ceremony ended with all the new citizens singing “God Bless America.” May choked when they got to the words, “God bless America, my home sweet home.” May lost a lot that day but gained something more. For twenty-five years she had lived away from her home in France. But now, finally, she could call the place where she lived home.
Taking the Oath is now published inTales2Inspire ~ The Moonstone Collection – Book 2
and in
Tales2Inspire ~ The Diamond Collection – Series V
