Maybe a day late but never a vote short . . .

Forgive me if I am a little distracted these days, but I must admit I let the 89th anniversary of the 19th amendment pass me by yesterday.

89 years ago, ten years before my beautiful mother in law Saribenne was born, women were finally given the right to vote in the United States of America. This is a day we should not let pass us by unnoticed. When we remember and recognize day like yesterday, we have the opportunity to celebrate our rights, learn from our collective history, and pass that knowledge on to future generations. The passing of the 19th amendment was hard won and is evidence that committed individuals can bring about positive change in the world.

We can make the world a better place.

Election Day, November 2008.

Saribenne casts her vote for Barack Obama.

Less than a year ago, I took my beautiful mother in law to cast what was very likely her last vote for a president, and I know how deeply important this was for her. Saribenne is a woman of the first generation of women to grow up assuming the right to cast her vote in elections and whom embraces that vote with a love of politics she has carried the majority of her life. She was well aware of and experienced harshly the realities of discrimination against women growing up, but she took that and turned it into the life of a strong, independent and well informed woman.

So- happy 19th Amendment Day, if even a day late.

Don't forget to to tell your kids about it.

If you don't have kids, tell someone else's kids about it.

Heck, maybe make a cake but perhaps vote on the flavor first.