The very least you can do in your life is figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof. — Barbara Kingsolver

After my daughter was born, almost 27 years ago, I wrote to the White House to request a presidential greeting for her from the President of the United States. Yes, you can do that.

About six months later, a welcome letter arrived in our mailbox, Sophie’s name and address handwritten in calligraphy on the envelope and inside, a signed message from the President and First Lady. I know it was the same hopeful message, a form letter that went out to countless new babies all across the United States, but I cherished it and saved it in a scrapbook.

Hope should be cherished. Simple and fragile, it’s a good thing. I’m not naive enough to believe that hope by itself can deliver the bright and prosperous America I envisioned for my daughter. II know it wasn’t enough to fulfill the dream I pursued as a young immigrant from Northern Ireland, but hope has always kept that dream in my heart.

In November 2019, hope barely intact, I became a United States citizen. It seemed perhaps I should do something to give my dream a little nudge; maybe to be more deserving of it. It seemed I should vote, and that with my vote I could be of use.

As a naturalized citizen, it has been an honor to vote, to believe that the little difference I make by casting MY ballot can make ALL the difference – in my home state’s legislature, in the United States Congress, in the White House and, yes, in the world.

Today’s general election is underway, with the first poll closing in a handful of hours. They say it is the most consequential in the nation’s history, its outcome likely to be decided by only thousands of votes in places like Pennsylvania. That means my individual vote matters. Yours does too. For those of you who believe it doesn’t, it’s a good day to remember that in 2016, 78,000 votes across Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin allowed Donald Trump to win in the Electoral College over his Democratic rival even though he lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by almost 3 million votes nationwide.

With the first poll closing in a handful of hours—you can find yours at I Will Vote, I’m reminded that America is still there—a great idea, no matter how hard it is to see sometimes, no matter how well it’s hidden behind all the rhetoric and the rancor.

A little fire of hope is still burning, and regardless of where I am—even in one of the oldest villages in Western Mexico— I’ll stand up for it. And, as long as I am able, I’ll vote for it, for the America my daughter will inherit.

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