When the Excitement is Gone

As I mentioned in my previous post Maribel is still having citizenship celebrations, though it was two weeks ago yesterday that she officially became a United States citizen. These last few meetings have more resembled the usual social get togethers than a celebration and Maribel's attitude toward them has been more subdued. It is obvious that the glow of the Oath Ceremony of April 1st at the USCIS building has diminished.  

Both of us remember the feeling of relief after mailing the citizenship application last May and what seemed like ten pounds of supporting documents gathered over the previous months. Now it was out of our hands. Now it was waiting for notification that the application was, a) accepted, b) rejected, or c) more information was required. 

There were high-fives and hugs and steaks on the grill along with goblets of Irish Crème the day we learned that the application had been accepted. The euphoria bubble burst a few days later when checking the status of the application we saw that the resolution date was November, 2021which at that time was fourteen months away. A few months later the date changed to May, 2021. After that events moved quickly. Maribel had her interview in mid-March; passed it, and was sworn in April 1st. And now it's over.

We talked about the evolution of the process, our feelings as each benchmark was passed and where we are now...in other words what has changed, what has been gained. In practical terms all that citizenship has given Maribel is the right to vote and to travel to countries that don't require Americans to have a visa. The intangible benefit is the pride she feels, and the relief that it is over. No more studying, memorizing, nervously checking the USCIS webpage to see if her status has changed, and no more fear that some political situation could derail her application. 

She still needs to receive her passport, and we did talk about having a 'passport party' but that's maybe going too far. When that passport arrives it will probably be just the two of us at Logan's Roadhouse, margaritas in hand and remembering briefly the citizenship experience before going on to talk of other things.