Today Juan Carlos became a United States citizen. After so many years (and soooooo much money, but let’s focus on the positive!) as a permanent resident, he finally became an official American!!!
The oath-swearing ceremony was a surprisingly lovely event—particularly since we have been dealing with Homeland Security for more than ten years and lovely is not the word I would ever choose for any Homeland Security procedure. There were about 35 people from 19 different countries at the ceremony and it was great to see the amazing diversity of countries represented in the state of Rhode Island. There was even one person from a place called Dominica, a country I didn’t even know existed!!! (It’s in the Caribbean, for those of you who don’t know, either 
) Juan Carlos was the only Spaniard, though, and he represented well!
Everyone took the oath of allegiance and then received the certificate of naturalization:
Then we all said the Pledge of Allegiance. Early this morning we were frantically practicing the pledge, although after studying for the citizenship test the pledge should have been a breeze.
Since he is now an American we had to go to a real American place for an American lunch…what better than Johnny Rockets? And what is more American than a chocolate milkshake?
He even chose a song from the jukebox to commemorate the event:
During the ceremony I was thinking about how beautiful the United States is and what a lucky thing it is to be able to live here—and we have lived in a few different parts of the country, so that makes us doubly fortunate. I surely do appreciate other countries, and I know that the US isn’t perfect, but there is a whole lot to love and be grateful for about America. I know Juan Carlos is still very much a Spaniard and will never lose his love for his homeland, but I am proud that he wanted to be a citizen of my country, as well.
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