To this day, I remember going to the polling place in Silverhill, Ala., with my parents.

The voting machine was an old-style machine with the large levers, the mechanical curtains and what seemed like a thousand knobs and buttons. Those machines were really intimidating; cool, but intimidating.

Today, most locations use paper ballots that resemble school tests or computer touch screens. Gone are the levers, the buttons and those curtains, which is a shame.

For me, it will not be long before I have the chance to take my children to the voting booth. They might not get to pull the lever to close the curtains, but they will get the chance to experience what is still an important part of living in our country.

Every four years, we get a chance to impact our country’s history. And, in some cases, we have the chance to make history.

This year was no different.

On one side of the ledger, you had in Hillary Clinton the first woman to be the presidential nominee of a major party. On the other, in Donald Trump, you had a candidate who managed the media and social media outlets in a way that allowed him to run a national campaign on a bare bones budget.

In some parts of the country, history was made in the number of votes cast. And, in others, we saw the changing political landscape due to the shifting demographics of those voting.

While every election is historic in its own way, each is special in that it is the American people speaking out with their vote.

Some of us, at times, do not like what the American people have to say, but this is a system that has worked for more than two centuries, and it is a system we must trust.

Former President John F. Kennedy, in 1961 to a speech to the Canadian Parliament, said, “What unites us is far greater than what divides us.”

While he was speaking about the partnership between the United States and Canada, such a thought is needed today as we recover from this tough, divisive campaign.

Elections are far angrier then I remember. Maybe it is the politics, the candidates or us. Or, it could be the computer voting machines.

Maybe we should just go back to the old style voting booths, everything might improve. Levers and buttons soothe the soul.

Tim Reeves is publisher of The Vicksburg Post. He can be reached at tim.reeves@vicksburgpost.com.