Driving Us Crazy

We may be sitting in a lovely townhouse on a golf course in Miami, but, my wife and I are also sitting on the horns of a dilemma and that can be quite uncomfortable. Actually, it is my wife’s issue, but, as in most good relationships, we share.
Here is her tale of woe. Enjoy.
We recently went to get our drivers licenses transferred from Texas to Florida and were informed, when we got through the ridiculously long line, that we would be going no further without an original copy of our birth certificates. Apparently, our standing there wasn’t proof enough of our existence, which, I suppose can be relatively understandable in some situations. I knew that I had mine in an envelope at home, which was only about 5 miles away. This was quite doable. I had but to go get it and come back. Not such an easy solution for my wife.
You see, her father was born in South Bend, Indiana and her mother was born and raised in Bryan, Texas. My wife was born while her mother was studying in Mexico City and brought back to the Lone Star state where she spent a few early years before the family moved to Gary, Indiana. I know what you’re thinking at this point, “So, what’s the issue?”
Well, my late mother-in-law was never a stickler for details, like, filing the birth so as to obtain a birth certificate. There is no record of my wife’s birth anywhere. I know she was born, if for no other reason than the fact that she gave birth to my 5th child and that I see her on a daily basis. That comes in especially handy when I get home from work and there is a sandwich waiting for my lunch. Hey, those things don’t just make themselves.
The fact that she can’t get a passport without a birth certificate and can do no traveling outside the country has been a minor issue, but nothing to really go to any extra trouble about. If we want to take a vacation, there are perfectly wonderful places to see all over this great land. Now, however, there is the more immediate problem of not being able to get a drivers license in the Sunshine State. Her mother didn’t help matters by naming her after the fine folks she was staying with, so when she tells people that her name is Marina Guadalupe and she was born in Mexico City to American parents, they are hard pressed to buy it.
She has, in the past few days, been in contact with the Mexican Consulate and the State Department and has received very little help. There is a thing called a “Certificate of Citizenship” that is tentative at best. It costs $480 and comes with the hope that she will even be able to obtain it. They also told her that an option would be to become a naturalized citizen. This is absolutely the only time I’ve ever heard of a U.S Citizen having to be naturalized to get a drivers license, but, I guess there is a first time for everything. We are still working on the logistics of getting this done, but, in the meantime she has to be extra careful behind the wheel. For most people the biggest worry about getting stopped for a moving violation would be getting a ticket. For her…it’s getting deported. Another classic case of bureaucracy at work....for you.


THAT’S HOW I FEEL WHAT CAN I TELL YA’