Yesterday was the sixth year anniversary of my father's death. He died from colon cancer in a government hospital that forgot to let us know that he even had cancer to begin with. After being treated with such indignity for months, day after day, the cancer is not what killed him. He simply pulled out the tubes of his ventilation machine. He'd had enough and I have never held that against him.

As I stood in the long queue to vote in today's elections, I considered turning back and going home numerous times. ''Walk away before you get to the front" is what I kept telling myself. But I eventually voted because that's what politically aware and responsible citizens do—even when it doesn't seem like the responsible thing to do personally.