For Dana Feehan of East Marion, the 2016 election holds special meaning — it’s the very first time she’ll be legally allowed to cast her vote, an honor she earned after recently becoming a United States citizen at 44 years old.
The goal of citizenship is one Feehan has held close to her heart since arriving in the United States in 1998.
Feehan, whose given first name is Khatina, was born in Georgia, in the former Soviet Union. She first came to the United States at 27, to visit a friend working at a summer camp in New Jersey.
“She sent me a visa, and I came and never left,” Feehan said. Her journey to the United States was marked by adventure and new beginnings. Although she’d planned only to visit, she fell in love with the nation and all it represents. “First, we lived in Brooklyn, in Bensonhurst, and it was new and exciting.”
Eventually, her friend married and Feehan made her way to Long Island, where she worked in home health care, as an aide to an elderly woman in Wading River; next, she headed to Westhampton to care an elderly gentleman, a pilot, and finally, her work led her to settle in Southampton, where she stayed for many years.
Feehan found love on the East End; she met her husband Sean, a carpenter, while she was working in Wading River; they married in 2006 and today, the couple has one son, Connor, 8, attends Oysterponds Elementary School.
Today, Feehan, who works as a housekeeper in Laurel, has dreams of garnering new skills; she enrolled at a computer course offered by Community Action of Southold Town and begins the third level of the class today; she recently graduated from the second level.
Throughout her entire odyssey in the United States, Feehan set her sights on becoming a citizen. In an ironic twist, she first arrived on Sept. 29, 1998 and she officially became a citizen on July 29, the same day of the month, this year.
But the road to citizenship was rocky and fraught with pitfalls. Feehan found a lawyer in New York, “supposedly, a top lawyer,” and paid $5,000, because she did not yet speak fluent English and needed help navigating the legal system.
“You hear the story all the time. They took my money and disappeared. It was a really bad thing they did.”
Later, still intent on becoming a citizen, she and the friend she’d lived with when first arriving from Russia sat down and completed the paperwork. “We did it by ourselves, no lawyers .You don’t need a lawyer.”
A year later she received a green card and then, three years later, was eligible to apply for citizenship; the process involved being fingerprinted twice. Seven months later, she became a citizen, with the actual ceremony to come in the next few weeks.
Feehan is overjoyed at finally achieving a long-sought after goal. “Oh, my goodness, I can’t even describe it. It’s just a crazy feeling.”
While her family — including her parents, who are retired and come to visit often — still lives a world away, the United States, she said, is home. “I love everything about this country; it’s wonderful. I am very proud to become a citizen of the United States.”
The American dream still exists, Feehan said, allowing for classes such as the computer course at CAST where individuals can learn new skills and better themselves.
“I’m going to work very hard to reach my goal.” While she was a nurse in Russia, it would require a a return to school to resume that career here. And so, she’s focused on her new computer skills and trying to take as many classes as possible, “so doors will open up and I can move on to a better job.”
The United States is also a land of opportunity for her young son, she said. “I have dreams for my son. I want the world for him. He’s the reason I get up every single day.”
When she asks him what he’d like to do when he grows up, Feehan said her son replies. “Mommy, I know. I want to be a police officer, or a businessman, or a doctor.”
And for her child, the future is a wide open canvas, she said. “He’s a very smart kid.”
Feehan, who does not swim, takes her son to swimming classes. “Everything you don’t have, you want to give to your kids.”
Thinking back on her own childhood in the Soviet Union, Feehan said, “The government was different. You couldn’t even talk that much, it was controlled by the Communists back then.” But still, Feehan said she has only positive memories. “I had a wonderful childhood, and I grew up in a very good family. i had the best life ever.”
Growing up, Feehan was instilled with lifelong values that helped fuel her burning desire to gain citizenship. While there are many that enter the United States illegally, Feehan was determined to earn legal citizenship and follow the rules.
“I grew up in a very disciplined family, and once I decided to stay here, that’s who I am inside, I want to do everything the right way. It’s good to do things the right way. I respect this country.”
That included learning English, even when she was working long hours as a home health aide and had no time for classes. “At night, I’d go to bed, and I’d have books in my hand to study, and I’d fall asleep with the books.”
And now, as a citizen, the 2016 presidential election means everything for Feehan. “I can’t wait,” she said. “I’d vote for Trump. I think, in this beautiful country, we need a really strong person to put it back together. I think he might be able to do that.”
But for now, Feehan is focused on her advanced computer classes, which begin this evening.
Linda Ruland, executive director of CAST, said staffers are “thrilled” with the computer lab, funded through a donation. “That’s our mission, to help people be self-sufficient. This is an incredible tool to do that.”
Moving forward, a portable lab will be sent to the Peconic area, with new classes offered.
Of Feehan, Ruland said. “She’s been very faithful, so into this course, so excited to learn.” Watching Feehan, she said, “makes me feel that we’re doing the job we should be doing here, in helping people to become self-sufficient and learn new skills.” Those interested in signing up for the next session of the free courses should call CAST at 631-477-1717,
