My 92-year-old grandmother, Pearl, was born in a place my mom calls “out in the bush,” the specific bushiness being in western Colorado a bit south and bit west of Grand Junction. Her birth wasn’t recorded officially until she was 23 and there is a lot of disagreement about how, exactly, her mother’s name is spelled (or even what her last name is, which has made my recent forays into genealogy challenging).

Pearl was born in 1914, her sister Clara in 1916. She says she remembers very clearly that her sister Ina (or Irene) was born in 1920. What jars her recollection? The memory of her grandmother letting out her mother’s blue serge suit so she can fit in it to go into town to cast her ballot in the first year that women could vote.

Pearl says: “We have very few rights left, so voting is important.”

Don’t forget to vote today. If you’re in PDX, you’ll need to take your mail-in ballot (no longer mail-in so much!) to one of many drop boxes around town by 8:00pm tonight.

Drop site locations here.