November 4th, because I didn't post that day

I had to work on the 4th, so Charlie and I went to vote before that. They were so professional and accommodating at my polling place! It was really busy (which was awesome) so I had trouble navigating. I walk with a cane in one hand, and holding on to Charlie's rigid handle, so I never have a free hand. As soon as we opened the heavy metal door, a poll worker said "hello! Would you be needing help today?" (A quick "thank you, God!" prayer shot up in relief)

"Yes ma'am, I'm a little overwhelmed. Where do I go first?", I asked her quietly. I'd voted before, but not in that location, and it's still a little weird to my mind, counting Charlie as my body space. I spent 27 years with just me, and now my body space is double, so navigating crowds and having to worry about drive by petting (which I equate to someone grabbing at my butt) is a little intimidating.

"Oh, okay! First you'll go to this table and show them your id.", she gestured like Vanna White and disappeared like a fairy godmother.

At ever single step, she gently showed up, discreetly offered information, and disappeared again. When it was time to take the blank ballot and marker, she saw my hands were working and offered to take it to a booth for me. She said if I needed to, she could read me the ballot, but I would need to fill it in myself. I have trouble writing, but I thanked her and said I was settled.

Charlie stayed in my close "down, stay" under the table while I got my vote on. When I told him "up, brace!" My fairy godmother appeared again and offered to carry my ballot for me. When we got to the machine, my hands were shaking, but she handed my ballot back to me and waited while I tried to put it in the machine. (When my hands are in a lot of pain, usually after writing or scrubbing something clean, they shake.) While I was trying to put it in, my fairy godmother created a discreet physical barrier between us and the crowd on Charlie's side. I couldn't help thinking she must have someone in her life who's disabled, because she was so easy and effortless in helping and sensing how to discretely do so. The teenager who was handing out stickers kept trying to hand a sticker to me while I was fighting the machine, so I paused and popped it onto Charlie's forehead. After I got the ballot in finally, it struck me as funny that he had melted down to the ground with huge, sad eyes. The teenager thought it was hilarious too and she quipped, "haha, your dog has an 'off' switch!"

I gave him the "up" command, took the sticker off and kissed his head. She asked me if I would like a sticker for Charlie too, but I said "Aw, that's sweet! Thanks, but I think he doesn't like stickers apparently!"

Our good fairy offered to help with the door, and I wish I had hugged her outside the polling place (because I'm a very huggy person). She was a God-send! I would have had to take a half day at work from spending so much energy navigating that all by myself. Stress eats up B vitamins, and my body is always super deficient, so if I had been on our own it would have really depleted me.

I  decided in the car to give my sticker back to Charlie by putting it on his American Flag bandana. It really is a privilege and honor to be an American, and it makes me weepy thinking about the Capitol Crawlers in '90, who willingly and physically put themselves through pain and mockery. They were arrested and belittled so I could have such a perfect and equal access to having my views counted with every able bodied voter's ballot. Without their sacrifice I don't think I could have voted like everyone else. I really and truly don't!  If I didn't have Charlie I couldn't have done it, there's no way I could have navigated the throng with one of my walkers. Without the godmother's help I would have spent so much more energy and been too exhausted to work. It's because of the Capitol Crawlers I had such a perfect morning. They knew they were helping the generations to come, but the oblivious 4 year old I was had no idea she would ever even need help or be disabled. I just feel a huge heart swell of love for them, and they are what I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving season!