Happy Birthday Canada & USA

Monday was Canada Day. We have been Canada for 141 years. And if I calculated correctly The United States is 232 years old and their day of celebration is this Friday. One of these countries is my birth origin and one is were I have lived since 1969. I was born in Detroit in 1957, when I was 12 we moved to Canada. My dad was an American and my mom is Canadian. This is their story of how they met. My dad's friend Don (they both lived in the Detroit area) was coming to Chatham in Canada to pick up his cousin, my mom and he ask my dad if he wanted to come along for the ride. Well when my dad saw my mom he was smitten and started dating and got married and they were married for over 40 years. So my American dad married my Canadian mom and moved to a suburb of Detroit. Oddly enough my grandmother (my dad's mom) was Canadian and my grandfather (my dad's dad) was an American. Their story is my grandma's stepmother wanted to go to Chicago (I think it was Chicago, it could of been Illinois) to see her brother. Her brother happened to be the stepfather of my grandpa. And the same thing happened they started dating and then they were married and moved to the Detroit area. I was the 3rd generation to be an American and marry a Canadian. It's funny how in one moment your life can change so much.
I have lived in Canada for over 30 years. And I must say I love it here. So this year I am going to start the proper procedures to become a Canadian citizen. My sister and one brother have already done this. It is something I should of done years ago. I am proud to be an American, but because of all this passport stuff going on and boarder crossing checks I think this is the best move, since I live on a border city.
I have also been thinking how blessed both countries are. Yes we are going through difficult times in Canada as well as the US, but compared to other countries we blessed. We have so many freedoms that we probably take for granted. There is so much abundance and so much beauty. One of the freedoms we have in both countries is the freedom to vote for whoever we want to. Unlike what has been going on in Zimbabwe, where your very life is in danger if you don't vote in a certain way. So in order for our freedom to mean anything we must all vote. It is very sad that our freedoms that we don't even give a second thought to are just a dream for other people. So for those who live in the US make sure you vote in November and for the Canadians when the next election comes around make sure you also vote. Lets make our freedom count.

I love both countries and am very fortunate to have lived in both.