The importance of a vote and the examples that we make

In the U.S., people have a variety of reasons for why voting is important to them, from personal conviction to the examples others have set and sacrifices others have made.

In 1976, after taking her granddaughter to see then President Gerald Ford speak, Sarah H. Villalovos told her granddaughter that people have died so that people in the U.S. can have the right to vote.

Over three decades later, Cynthia Villalovos wrote for the Association of Texas Professional Educators (ATPE) about the impact her grandmother’s example has had one her as a voter.

Recalling that day in 1976, Villalovos offered the view through the eyes and understanding of a child: the strange white man in a suit talking while other men glared at the crowd.

“In my 6-year-old mind, I thought those men were mean looking, not realizing they were Secret Service,” she wrote. Yet, it did not matter whether she understood all the details then, as her grandmother was sowing the seeds that would blossom later in her life.

Villalovos, who is the Houston area representative for ATPE, shared the story of her grandmother’s insistence on being politically active following the Oct. 17 anniversary of her grandmother’s death.

“She was a proponent for voting and ensured that every adult member of our family voted,” Villalovos wrote. “There were many times she cooked dinner for everyone and then our entire family caravanned to the election location.”

Even during her childhood, Villalovos’s began instilling in her the importance of being politically involved and in understanding and being informed, she wrote. Though those lessons never fully resonated until years later when Villalovos was in college, when they did hit home, they stuck.

“Every election year, I am reminded of my grandmother’s resilience, courage, and civic duty,” Villalovos wrote. “I may not be the most informed, but I continue to grow, learn the issues, stand for democracy and equality, and honor my grandmother, Sarah H. Villalovos!”