"Yankee Doodle Dandy"

A classic, absolutely. Incredibly dated in feel, though not really in sentiment. Somehow Americans are still patriotic in this day and age, no matter what our politics. Another fun one to sing with my daughter, as well.

My husband is British, and has been a legal alien in this country since he was thirteen, but does not yet have his citizenship. He has his green card, disappointingly not actually green, thinks of himself as American, for the most part, certainly appears to be American to any casual observer, and has always planned to become a citizen. When he printed out the application forms last year it was quite a revelation. There are so many questions, some that seem very dated and inadequate, some that just feel invasive. I will even need to file information about my previous marriage, one supposes just so that it's clear that I am not a serial alien marry-er. My husband is more concerned that he would pay the $350 application fee, and then be rejected because he worked for Greenpeace at one point.

Our daughter is fascinated by the fact that she's half British, and she knows now that she could claim UK citizenship if she wished at some point. It's not quite as cool as being bi-lingual, but it could be a contender.

I'm very happy to be American, but also acutely aware that my great-grandparents all came to this country as immigrants. My grandparents were mostly bi-lingual themselves, in a time when it wasn't as cool, I imagine. I treasure that part of my heritage, and can't imagine what it would have been to travel across the ocean as a young person to live forevermore, away from family and the land of my youth.