I can remember going to vote with Mama and Daddy in the early ’70’s and they had these horrid avocado green sliding curtains to protect your privacy when you went to cast your ballot.  I was so proud I got to go and a bit scared as I stood in the tiny booth with my mother.  My parents, who loved each other deeply, used to joke they had to go to the poles to cancel each other out.  Mama grew up in a long line of Southern Democrats and Daddy was a hardshell Republican.  They showed me that people can disagree but still respect each other AND have civil dialogues about ideological differences.  It goes without saying they always voted.  As with everything else in my life, they influenced me greatly.  I can promise you, no matter what you may think, you will never be able to determine my political affiliation.  That is because I am not married at all costs to one particular side of the aisle.  I vote my conscience and I can never be sorry for that.  We are all entitled to have a voice.  And if we do not exercise our right it will be exercised for us by someone else.  I love this quote by the American former president of the University of Notre Dame, Reverend Theodore Hesburgh, who said, “Voting is a civic sacrament.”