Because there isn’t anything much more American than hot dogs, that’s what Sheryl Ruggaber and her family had to eat after she was sworn in as an American citizen Friday at U.S. District Court in Hammond.
What she didn’t expect when she walked in to Valpo Viennas in downtown Valparaiso was a collection of family and friends who greeted her with hugs, applause, a U.S.A. balloon and a banner proclaiming her new citizenship.
“We were talking about getting American food,” she said as Pat Truax, owner of Valpo Viennas, told her she had to have a Chicago-style hot dog.
Ruggaber, 38, came to America on Aug. 6, 2004 from the Philippines to marry her husband, Brent Ruggaber, and while becoming a citizen was always in the back of her mind, it came to the forefront during the presidential election when Ruggaber realized she wanted her voice to be heard.
“I wanted to take part because I wasn’t voting in the Philippines and I wasn’t voting here and I felt that I should,” she said. “It was the candidates and before I never really had a say so I couldn’t complain. This time I wanted to have a say of my candidate but I wasn’t able to vote.”
Ruggaber, who lives in Valparaiso with Brent and their daughter Shelby, 3, had hoped to complete her citizenship before the election but that didn’t happen. She plans on registering to vote in the coming week.
“When you come here and become a permanent resident, you get to do everything but vote and run for office,” she said, adding she’s also looking forward to getting an American passport.
Ruggaber learned to drive shortly after she came here and worked for seven years at the Menards in Valparaiso. She’s worked at ArcelorMittal in Burns Harbor for five years, where she’s a service technician.
She and Brent met online through a series of coincidences and missteps. At the urging of a friend, she signed up for an online dating website but when she put in where she was from, Leyte in the Philippines, the site auto-corrected it to “Leroy.” After a few attempts at fixing it, she gave up.
Brent was doing online research for a local restaurant that wanted to look into marketing for singles and unknowingly went to the wrong website, where he created a profile to gain access to the site. He found Sheryl’s profile and thought she was from Leroy, in south Lake County. It was only after the couple began an email exchange that Brent discovered Sheryl wasn’t a county away.
Still, their relationship blossomed, and he went to visit her in the Philippines for two weeks before Sheryl came to the U.S. so they could marry. When she arrived here, Brent drove her through Leroy as a joke.
He is proud of her decision to become a citizen.
“I’m honored that she would make the commitment. It’s a big step. I’m proud of the country and I’m happy to introduce Sheryl to everything this country has to offer, from beautiful scenery and places to the history and the politics,” said Brent, 46, who works in customer service at ArcelorMittal. “I’ve always been very interested in the politics and history, so it’s special to have someone coming from very basic knowledge and willing to learn.”
Becoming a citizen was also an important thing to do for Shelby, Sheryl said.
“It’s important for me for her to know this is home and this country has offered me a lot of opportunities to grow myself and be a better person and help other people,” she said. “I want Shelby to learn about my culture and at the same time, it is really a privilege to be an American citizen, and she is really lucky to be born here.”
With that, Truax brought deep-fried Twinkies to the tables for the Ruggaber family and their friends.
“You can’t get any more American than a Chicago dog and a deep-fried chocolate Twinkie,” he said.
Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
