I have the day off today, and my mission was to stop by the Post Office and get a new passport, seeing that mine still has my maiden name and expired in 2004. Working in a bank I have seen the importance of having one, and I can't even go to Canada unless I have it! (I know, this is a new rule for everyone, but it has always been for me because of the following...)

I was probably 16 or 17 when my youth group came up from WV to Fallfest which at that time was held in Niagara Falls NY. During the afternoon break, we had the opportunity to go across to Canada and spend the day, so we did. My parents were along on this trip and we all had no problem walking across the border into Canada, they just looked at my driver's lisence.

It was time to come back to NY, and my parents were staying in Canada to have their anniversary dinner so it was just about 10 teens and our youth minister. In the lin to get across, they would ask each person where their citizenship was and looked at their driver's lisence. No problem, I had U.S. Citizenship and a lisence. That is, no problem until a kid a few people in front of me didn't know what the word "citizenship" meant. This is when a panic hit me, because from then on, the lady was asking everyone where they were born. Oh no.

I was literally turning red, white and sweating when the lady came to me. I couldn't lie, I told her I was born in Glasgow, Scotland, but that I was a citizen of the U.S. She didn't care, she wanted my passport which I didn't have because at the time you were supposedly only needing a lisence.

As the rest of my youth group was standing in NY, I was detained....yes, detained....into a little office surrounded by U.S. Border Patrol people who didn't look very happy. After grilling me and searching me, I just burst into tears, no one could come back to Canada and help me, I was alone! Finally one of the men told me he didn't think I was lying, but let this be a lesson that I should always have my passport on me.

Ok, so back to my day off. I was going to take my old passport and just get it renewed. Well, a thing called September 11th happened and changed a few rules. I have to prove my citizenship, and identity in some complicated ways. Definitely going to need more than a day off for this one!

This is what I have to have:

a consular report of birth

certification of birth

my foreign birth certificate

parents marriage lisence

proof of citizenship for both my parents

an affidavit showing all my parents periods and places of residing before and after my birth

a driver's lisence or certificate of citizenship

and two recent color photographs of myself alone, 2x2 inches in size and the image must be from the bottom of your chin to the top of your head and should not be less than 1 inch and not more than 1 3/8 inches.

Yup, thats all I have to have.....oh and all the documents must have a notary or signature guarantee!

I am not sure if traveling to Canada is worth all this.............