Michael and US Citizenship

Michael arrived in Houston, Texas 13 years ago as a college student. He followed his eldest brother to Houston and over the years all but one of his siblings have come over to now reside in the US. Up until last year Michael had been content as a 'permanent resident' with a Kenyan passport. He loves his birth country of Kenya and has worked hard for the American dream, paid taxes without complaint and enjoyed the freedoms and benefits of living in this country. I say up until last year because it was the first time he felt like he was missing out by not being a registered voter. And thus began the arduous process of filing for a change of status to become a United States citizen... So on Thursday, August 27th at approximately 2:30pm CST, Michael took the oath of citizenship and was sworn in/naturalized a citizen of the USA. The ceremony was overall about 1 hour which incorporated color guard presenting the flag, the Pledge of Allegiance, the National Anthem being sung, a few speakers sharing their experiences of going through the process, new citizens filling out voter registration cards, and a brief video slide show with JFK's "Ask not what your country can do for you" speech and the "I'm proud to be an American" song. It was a very patriotic and uplifting experience to be a part of. The only inconvenience was that it was standing room only for family and friends, so it was difficult to get a good picture or video of the ceremony. The above picture was taken afterward with the judge who officiated the function. Lucky for me the girls slept through the entire programme so I was able to enjoy it all and reflect back over the nine years that I've known Michael and the wonderful example and man that he is. What a blessing to our family, to have a provider who loves us and loves this country.