A quarter-century ago, I became a US citizen. It was an act of love – and not just for my American husband: I was also in love with the values that made this nation of ours so great.
The greatest of those values is freedom. And the greatest form of freedom is freedom from fear.
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That freedom has spurred generations of American pioneers to explore, whether the untrammeled west or the infinity of space or the undiscovered miracles of science. It has inspired the visionaries of American liberties constantly to test and improve this marvelous democracy. And it has inspirited US presidents and generals to brave wars and bring peace that foreign leaders might not have delivered.
Tuesday's election should be the purest manifestation of American freedom, a day on which US citizens of all stripes decide on their collective future and, by extension, the course of the whole world.
But this election has become polluted with that most un-American of emotions: fear.
You see it in the boarded-up shopfronts of Manhattan and Washington DC, and in the extraordinary police deployments - all in anticipation of day-after rioting by vexed Biden voters and other malcontents.
Even worse, when asked who they plan to vote for, many Trump supporters adopt hushed, anxious tones.
Such so-called "shy Trump voters" worry about being ostracized, at the cost of jobs or friendships. For a few, it is a matter of physical safety: The vehemence of anti-Trump animus, as we have witnessed, can spell outright violent assault.
This is a tragedy for all Americans. It is toxic for the grand American experiment.
It must stop. And there is no better time to stop it than right now, on the eve of an election that is proving to be a referendum on the courage that should be central to the US character.
Our democratic system allows us to keep our vote private. That is fine and - as is my fervent hope and belief - the final tally will show that a majority of us favor a second Trump term.
But whatever the outcome, we must not let the side-effect of this election be the cowing of an American electorate.
My husband Sheldon likes to say that it is important to stand for what you believe in - proudly and publicly - even if that means standing alone.
Trump supporters are by no means alone. But they will certainly be diminished, as individuals, if they swallow their pride, avert their gaze, and shuffle along silently to cast their vote before rushing home.
The coming hours will be a time of reckoning for the amity that we should extend our fellow Americans even if we disagree politically. Trump voters, just like Biden voters, should speak up as freely as they wish and hold their heads high. We must each expect no less of the other, and welcome it.
Tomorrow may decide the presidency. But it is how we act now that will define us as Americans.
Let us come together though we may differ. Let us reaffirm the "United" in the United States of America.
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