Shelley Blundell spent part of her birthday becoming a naturalized American citizen.
Blundell, along with 38 others, were newly minted as Americans on Friday in a ceremony held at the Akron-Summit County Public Library downtown.
“Today was, I think, probably the most relieved I’ve felt in years,” Blundell said.
She said that during her 25 years in-country, she sometimes wondered if the complex process to naturalization was worth the effort. Blundell emigrated from South Africa, where she said opportunities were scarce. America, however, afforded her many more options — including working for a year as a librarian at the Akron Beacon Journal. Now, she’s the education director at the Victim Assistance Program.
“Watching my family grow and have families on their own, all the people that I’ve met, I know I made the right decision,” Blundell said.
Christa Mory followed her husband, a soldier, to America from Germany 50 years ago and never looked back.
“I love the tolerance that Americans used to have,” said Mory. “Lately, I’m a little disappointed that that is not as much as it was in the first 45, 50 years.”