Celebrating fifty years in the USA and how it changed my life

I guess this makes me the newbie around here as I had my citizenship ceremony on the 14th August just gone! Was an amazing experience and one I will forever treasure. The judge who oversaw the ceremony here in DC made the most amazing speech focussing on what we bring to the USA and the flavor we add here (not to mention the recipes - he kept saying "keep those recipes coming, we love them!!") It was an amazing day! What was funny for me was the day the letter came in August (4th) on that same day I got called for Jury Duty - was so funny. I decided as the date to appear for Jury Duty was the 28th August, i had to be honest and say "yes, by the time I appear I will indeed be a citizen!!" and I wanted to do my civic duty - get all my 1st's over in the same month!! I appeared for Jury Duty on the 28th and got selected for the jury so spent all last week in court - its an experience I also won't forget as it brings it home to you the responsibility you have on a jury. Fortunately i was the alternate (luck of the Irish) so didnt have to actually vote on it but was a great experience and I can now say I'm a US citizen and I've already done jury duty!! Not bad for a lass all the way from Tipperary eh!! :) America is a great country (regardless of its political issues and economic issues) - it gives us a great life and we invest well into that life so its home away from home and I feel honored to be a US citizen as much as I am always honored and thrilled to be Irish! The Irish have a great reputation here as workers - we don't forget where we came from but we don't forget what we bring too!

go raibh mile maith agat. Beannacht De leat

The Statue of Liberty welcomes ALL newcomers as do I, even if it is a belated welcome. IMMIGRANTS make America GREAT! Thank you for your service Seanmor! I believe that volunteering to DIE for America should be a good enough reference for citizenship.

Those of us who have 'been down that road' can easily relate to Beradette's great article. My T.W.A. flight landed in New York on 29 April, 1958, and I spent the first 2 weeks in Jackson Heights. In complience with the law, I registered with the Draft Bard within 6 months, but I avoided being drafted in the Army for 2 years by volunteering for 4 years in the Marione Corps. In early July of '62 I had returned from a Caribbean cruise and would be promoted to corporal (E-4) in August. But my honorable service in the militry didn't fast track me to citizenship. I was finger-printed, photographed and invesigated for 6 weeks before my 'naturalition' was approved. But being 'naturalized' didn't change my DNA - nor did my London birth make me an Anglo-Saxon. Bernadette, her sister, and countledd thousands more Irish came here in the 50s and 60s, all in FULL COMPLIENCE with U.S. laws. Unlike the 12 million ILLEGAL aliens who are now here, there was NO subsidized housing, NO food stamps, NO free health care for the lawful Irish immigrants who contributed so much t this great nation. Go mbeannaí Dia na Stáit Aontaighe agus go Dia sábhaile tir na hÉireann agus gach roinn di.