By BILL MILBY

Did you vote yesterday? I sure hope so!

It’s Tuesday morning as I’m writing this column and as soon as I finish it I’m headed to the polls to cast my ballot. The editor is pushing me to get this in or I would have voted first and then written the column.
In spite of all the hype of the candidates and the millions upon millions of dollars they spend on ads and campaigns, the voter turnout in our elections is pathetically small. Somehow we’ve come to take this right for granted and I’m not sure exactly why. Perhaps it’s because not enough of us have had to spill our blood defending our freedom and securing this right of citizenry that we have.
Perhaps is because some of our politicians seem inclined to give away this right to whoever is here in the USA or whoever shows up at the polls with or without proper ID that tends to send the message that “Hey, that right to vote isn’t so sacred after all”. Well, I still believe it is and I’m going to exercise it today.
Of course that doesn’t insure that my candidate will win. And probably he won’t given the mood of the country and the bent of the media but that doesn’t matter. I will cast my ballot for whom I believe is best suited to lead our country in these perilous times we face. And, if you read the column last week you would know that I believe Ted Cruz is that man. We’ll find out tonight through the magic of television, computers and a bunch of other technology that we also take for granted everyday, who actually won.
And, whatever those results are, we’ll move on to the next step to the next steps in electing our new president: the nominating conventions and the general election in the fall. All of which is an ongoing miracle of democratic self-government that we get to participate in.
I remember as a kid growing up, before we ever had a TV, observing my mom while she intently listened to the politicians of the day on the radio as she did her ironing or other household chores. She would give me her political insight (she was a diehard conservative Republican) as she listened to the lofty political rhetoric of the day. The first time I remember her having any satisfaction in a presidential election is when IKE (Dwight Eisenhower) beat Adlai E. Stevenson of Illinois twice, in 1952 and again in 1956.
Mom was a deeply committed Christian whose allegiance to her savior ran far deeper than her allegiance to her country. I believe it should be the same with us today. But , that being the case, she still believed , and managed to instill in us the same belief, that our political process, flawed as it is with imperfect men (and women, which was unheard of in her day) is still a sacred right that we have as USA Citizens and we better not take it for granted.
So, because I’m a very thankful USA citizen, and because mom may be watching from above, I’m going to wind up this column right now and go vote.
I hope you did too!
Thanks for reading All About Seniors…..see you next week!
Bill Milby, CSA, is a Certified Senior Advisor and a Director of Visiting Angels® of Macon, a non-medical, living assistance service for seniors. If you have questions or comments about this column you can reach him at william.mercylink@gmail.com or search for us at www.facebook.com/VisitingAngelsMacon.