I voted | Meridian Star

meridianstar.com · Feb 23, 2026 · Collected from GDELT

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Published 12:06 pm Monday, February 23, 2026 By Les Ferguson I voted in my first presidential election at the age of 18. My birthday that year fell ten days before our high school graduation. During my last semester of high school, I took the required civics/government class. One of our test scores was based on registering to vote. I did so and received the promised A+. Given how little I studied or applied myself, I probably needed that score to pass the class and matriculate. Looking back, I wonder what I could have accomplished if academics had mattered to me just a little. All these years later, I blame Dean, Terry, Chuck and David. I should add Steve to that list, too. We were too busy having fun and living life to pay much more attention than was needed to meet the minimum requirements. While my academics suffered, I learned the incredible value of good friends. I am still in fairly regular contact with Dean, Terry, and Steve through texting, phone and Facebook. I still mourn the losses of Chuck and David. But back to voting. In my voting years, we’ve seen Reagan, H.W. Bush, Clinton, George W. Bush, Obama, Trump, Biden, and now Trump again. Depending on who you talked to, each of those presidents was either going to be the downfall of America or the greatest thing since sliced bread. Every single one of them. To my discredit, I followed that line of thinking and saw the worst in some. But the truth is this: they were all good and bad. None of them was perfect. None of them could be right all the time. The longer I live, the more I realize that whoever lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave is no more or less human than the rest of us. Could they make better decisions? Couldn’t you? Could they be kinder and more civil to their opposition? Couldn’t you? Could they be more cognizant of the diverse nature of our nation? Couldn’t you? I still vote in elections. I try to choose the person I believe will do the best for our country. I don’t always get it right, and neither do you. But politics aside, I have no control over anyone but myself—and my time is best spent becoming the best version I can be. In support of that, I choose to live by the golden rule. In doing so, I cannot help but believe my relationships will be better and the world will get brighter. Our nation needs that. More importantly, and closer to home, our spouses, children, friends, co-workers, and employees need that. We should be the test cases for treating others as we want to be treated. Now if only our elected officials could get on board… Kindness is key! “Just as you want others to do for you, do the same for them.” (Luke 6:31)