Today is the final day for Americans to return their census forms. Have you sent yours? Brian and I did, way back in March. Although we were technically homeless on the census date of record — having given up claim to our townhouse the prior day — we filled out the form anyway, from a desire to be counted. After all, no one else was living in our former home on April 1st. I figure that our decision was in the spirit of the “law,” if not to the letter of it.
The government has talked a lot about the value of the census in allocating resources, but that is not my interest in it. Having done a little amateur genealogy, I know how valuable the census and other printed records can be for future generations. In fact, I hadn’t planned to have Brian’s and my wedding announcement printed in the paper five years ago until a friend reminded me of how interesting it could be to our progeny 100 years from now. And I can’t tell you how cool it was to see the records for my grandparents, great-grandparents and other family members from the 1920 census, back when everything was hand-written. I definitely felt a deeper connection to them from the experience.
My post is off-topic for Watsons Unleashed, but I hope it will make anyone who hasn’t turned in their census form take a moment to think about it, if not take action. For people who move around as often as Brian and I do, it’s nice to know we’ve been counted, at least for this decade. Who knows where we’ll be in 2020.
Happy Friday, everyone,
