This morning I woke up extra early, in order to go cast my vote in the Presidential Election. Today was the last day for early voting in Texas.

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The lines have been crazy. Some people I know have waited for nearly two hours to cast their vote. We’ve had record turnouts here in Harris County, and last I heard there would be an estimated 750,000 votes cast during early voting.

When we pulled onto the street of the polling place, I quickly realized that we were in for a very long wait. Dozens of cars were parked along the side of the street for about half a mile. People were walking in the busy street, just so they didn’t have to walk in the ditch. I thought I was going to run over somebody. It was insane.

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The parking lot was pretty much full. But, I was able to park in handicap because my (disabled) mother came with me to vote. Luckily, we ended up getting the last handicap spot available. The line was wrapped around the entire building, and started to wrap around a fence, heading back into the parking lot. I would guess there were about 300 people in line.

We walked all the way across the parking lot to the end of the line, where we met a worker for the polling place named Eric. The guy was great! My mom came walking up to him with her rolling walker. We were basically standing in the grass of a playground next to the polling place.

Because my mom is disabled, he told me that he could take her directly up to the front of the line, and that I was welcome to accompany her. I couldn’t believe it! I was trying to figure out how I would be able to make sure my mom could stand for so long, on an awkward terrain. And then Eric, the polling place volunteer, gives me a free pass to the very front of the line.

Sure enough, we walked around the back of the polling place and he took us directly to the very front of the line. Once we got in there was another guy working in there. I guess he could tell my mom may have needed a little assistance getting the voting process started, so he was right there. Not hovering above her or watching her vote, but just standing near in case she needed some help. The guy was great! He even got her a magnifying glass to help her see what she was doing.

I was blown away at how courteous everybody was to my mom. I know that election time is always a busy time, but the actions of this crew, at my local polling station, stood out in my mind.

My mom and I walked out of there with that ‘I Just Voted’ feeling. It was great! Even though I know that I’m basically throwing my vote away, because… well, I live in Texas. Ironic, huh?