Honor Our Veterans by Casting Your Ballot

What does it mean to be an American? It’s not simply a love of our homeland. It's almost like being a member of a large family, where all our parents tell us that we have to look out for each other, and that our dreams will come true if we just work hard enough.

Going out to vote on Election Day is one of the ways we keep our American family together. Voting means that we have a voice in how our communities are being helped as well as issues that affect us personally, like reproductive rights or discrimination laws. Being an American of legal voting age means we are responsible for the rest of our family.

Of course, there are many of us who feel that voting is a chore - not unlike having to cook dinner for the family. But it's important to remember that voting is a privilege that generations of Americans struggled to win, and that there are people in other countries who are still fighting for that right.

And speaking of fighting, there are about 22 million members of our American family - our brothers and sisters, our sons and daughters, our mothers and fathers - who are veterans of our armed forces. These family members go out into the world, risking life and limb to keep us safe. These are the people who enable us to continue to call our country “the home of the brave.”

November means that we honor our family, our fellow Americans, by going to the polls, and taking the time to thank our veterans, either with a handshake or volunteering. This is what it means to be in our family - to insure our families are taken care of now and in the future.