Tales from a First Time Voter

Spencer turned 18 at the end of October, so we made sure he registered to vote before the deadline.
I didn't even see Spencer today. I left for work before he got up then I got home from work while he was at basketball practice and left for work again at 5:30 before he came home.
I called him.
"Remember to go vote," I told him.
"Okay," he said. I told him what I considered were the important issues for him to vote on. I wasn't worried about raising the age limit for judges or about the local mayoral race.
We've talked enough in our family about Issue 2, so I thought he knew the issues about collective bargaining and agreed about the need for it. Either way, I was telling him to vote our family party line.
"So no on Issue 2?" he asked.
"Yeah." I told him one of the girls from high school was there helping and he could ask her if he needed help voting for the first time.
I felt bad that I couldn't go with him, but I always took the kids along when they were little, shuffling them inside the booth. One time Tucker even leaned against the green button and finished casting my ballot before I had selected someone in every race.
At 7:13, with the polls getting ready to close, I texted him: "Did u go vote yet?"
He replied, "Yep, 2 and 3 no."
Issue 3 was about healthcare reform and for some reason didn't get much attention here.
"Good job," I texted. "Feel like a grown up?"
He replied, "I feel like an American."