[Magdalen] Naturalization Ceremony

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

Oh yeah, I forgot about the little American flags the new citizens got.

I read somewhere that judges can get downright violent in arguments about
who gets to do the ceremony, since this, like a marriage, one of the few
times a judge gets to preside over a happy event.

James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy

On Tue, Jun 9, 2015 at 3:08 PM, Raewynne Whiteley <raewynne1 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> I'm feeling deprived...we didn't have a map or stick pins or cookies when I
> was naturalized.  Nor did we get little American flags, which they always
> get when news channels report on the ceremonies. (g)
>
> Raewynne
>
> On Sat, Jun 6, 2015 at 3:42 PM, James Oppenheimer-Crawford <
> oppenheimerjw at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Had an interesting afternoon yesterday.
> >
> > Went to the Wallace center, a part of the FDR Library and Home in Hyde
> Park
> > as a driver.  They were having a naturalization ceremony, and the DAR was
> > supplying refreshments.
> > I've never seen this before, and I wanted to see it.  It turns out it's
> > like so many other things.  Hurry up and wait.
> > Homeland Security now must speak individually with each candidate. Among
> > other things, they ask them if they have changed their mind since
> applying
> > for citizenship.
> > H S had a group in the morning in Rockland County, and were apparently
> > delayed for two hours, so everybody had to wait for them.
> > This gave our county executive, Marcus Molinaro, a chance to practice his
> > stand-up routine "I have a lot of jokes <pause> some of them are funny."
> > After a particularly lame joke, he pointed to one lady, "Excuse me
> ma'am. I
> > see you are laughing.  Did you REALLY think that was funny? Yes? And
> where
> > are you from, ma'am?  Jamaica? Oh I have to get down there to talk."
> > He gamely went on poking fun at himself for about fifteen minutes ("If
> > someone somewhere is opening an envelope, I will be there!")
> > He was always interested in politics as a young man, and he got tired of
> > hearing the trustees in his village saying, no matter what the subject,
> > "Oh, we can't do that." He learned a bit about representative gummint,
> and
> > he suddenly realized that if he wanted change, he might be the one to
> start
> > it.
> > He ran for village trustee at eighteen years old -- and won.
> > A year later, he found out the mayor was retiring, and he was starting to
> > enjoy politics. "So I ran home as fast as I could and asked my mother if
> I
> > was permitted to run for mayor. She said yes, so I did, and I won. I was
> > mayor for twelve years."
> > Marc is now in his forties (I believe). You may hear more of this man in
> > the coming years, he's that good.
> >
> > Eventually we worked around to the ceremony.  Looking out the window at
> the
> > statue of Eleanor and Franklin sitting on a bench just like plain folks,
> I
> > looked around at these people (73 individuals were naturalized that day)
> I
> > felt we obviously have something going on here if these folks are coming
> > here from different lands (There was a map in the room with a stick pin
> for
> > every country: Canada, S. America, Vietnam, Russia, Africa, the usual
> > European suspects)
> >
> > We started out by singing the national anthem in a sort of organum.
> >
> > And then the oath itself, including the same words I swore as a non-com,
> > but with a marvelous twist:
> > The administrator went "Repeat after me.
> > I -- state your name --"
> > And they then went around the room. Each of the seventy-three people, one
> > by one, stated their name.  This part touched me so very deeply, but I
> was
> > totally unprepared for the little incident that happened next.
> > In the midst of this, each person is reciting his name, going around the
> > room in a prearranged order, and then I heard, but it did not fully
> > register until a moment later (Huh? Did that really happen?), one person
> > stated his name:
> >
> > "Ronald Reagan <surname>"
> >
> > Some one person spontaneously clapped. I am glad they did because I would
> > have convinced myself I imagined it. But it was over, and the ceremony
> just
> > carried on.
> >
> > Two people in front of me were obviously new citizens, and I got the
> > privilege of being the very first person to congratulate them on their
> > citizenship.
> >
> > And then, all in the room now being citizens, we pledged allegiance to
> the
> > flag<snif>.
> >
> > Then we sang America the Beautiful in sort of parallel thirds.  Sweet.
> >
> > Everybody got their picture taken by friends, standing next to the flag
> > pointing to THEIR stick-pin.  Goodness.  From all over the world....
> >
> > We had a huge pile of cookies and drinks and they were all gone. Yay.
> >
> > I always enjoy visiting the center.  I never knew FDR. He died before I
> was
> > born. But I've always felt a connection.  We talked about Mrs. Roosevelt
> in
> > school all the time when I was a kid.
> >
> > When I was an undergrad at Pitt, I had some business in the Cathedral of
> > Learning, and was getting into an elevator. I was chatting with the
> > elevator operator, who was an African-American gentleman. For some
> reason,
> > the name of Franklin Roosevelt came up, and at that moment, the man took
> > off his hat.
> >
> > He looked me, looked at his hat, looked at me.
> >
> > And then, he said, "He made us feel like he cared about us." I cannot
> > imagine a more noble monument than that doffed cap.
> >
> > Our President could not stand, yet he helped America get back on its
> feet.
> >
> > And every time I visit, I think of all that....
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
> > *“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
> > except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy
> >
>