I am an American. I own guns. My wife loves her pickup as much as I love my American-made muscle car. I am a retired Marine and am proud of my service. One branch of my family came here among the first from Europe to what we called New England. The natives here welcomed us, helped us, and entered into treaties with us, every one of which we Europeans broke. My family took part in fighting the indigenous people here in Maine. Now I try to set aside as much of this land as possible to remind us all of what we missed and all the people who perished trying to save their land and their way of life.

Another branch of my family came here as religious/political immigrants. As an excellent horseman, my great-grandfather did not want to be a Cossack for the Tsar of Russia to make war on his own people. Leaving his wife and four children behind, he immigrated to Portland, Maine. He sought peace and quiet to be a farmer. He walked to Norway, Maine. There he was able to buy an abandoned farm and worked that land.

Four years later, he returned to the Pale to retrieve his family. He and his wife had 11 children. Several served in World War I. Two were gassed and survived. One was a nurse, one was an ambulance driver, and one died while on guard duty in his native Norway, Maine. I tell this story because there are people in Maine who have endured equal and worse hardship as part of their immigration story, which is ongoing. As I see all the help wanted signs around me now, we need these people to meet our present and future needs just as my ancestors did.

Currently I am fortunate to be surrounded by friends and acquaintances whose civility and friendship I value highly. These friends are every color of the old-fashioned racial rainbow. Some are Christians, some are Jews, some are Muslims. Some are agnostic, some just don’t care, and some call themselves atheists. Some are single, some are married, some are gay, some are straight, some are trans. Frankly, that is none of my business.  I include these groups as friends for what they bring to our relationship. I get to hear a variety of viewpoints and somehow we are friends, generally not agreeing on everything.

Professionally I have been fortunate to have served with amazing teachers and administrators in the schools of Maine and New Hampshire.  As a merchant seaman, I’ve also been able to visit the shores of the U.S. from Maine to Florida to Texas and the Caribbean as well as the West Coast from California to Alaska and Hawaii. In each port and on each ship I have been able to cultivate relationships with people from a great many walks of life. I value these friends as well.

There is a choice facing our nation now – yet another presidential election. I can’t truly say that I know either of the major candidates. All I can do is make a determination from what they say and what they have done. In my deliberations, I seek the candidate who wants to bring as many people as possible to solve the problems of our nation, to bind our wounds, and contribute to a better world. As a Christian, I also seek guidance from the Bible in my deliberations. Christ is my best teacher.

We constantly have sought a more perfect union. We have extended suffrage from a small minority of white men. We fought a civil war to extend suffrage to previously enslaved people. We extended it in most of the states to indigenous people.

And finally, just a century ago, we extended it to the other half of our population – to women. As a result, we are stronger as a people and a beacon of hope to the world. I have already cast my ballot for the daughter of immigrants, whose complexion more closely resembles Jesus than my own, and whose career has been of service to each community she has served. Please join me in voting for Kamala Harris.