DECATUR - Since President Lincoln first declared a national day of Thanksgiving in the midst of the Civil War, Americans have observed the occasion by getting together with family to begin the holiday season.

For 60 individuals in Illinois this year, it will be their first holiday season as naturalized American citizens, and Decatur and the surrounding area are home to several of them.

Rati Patel of Decatur was born in Mumbai, India. The 25-year-old came to the United States three years ago with her husband.

Patel studied chemistry in India, and now she is taking the first steps to become a radiology technician by attending Richland Community College. She joined her husband, who already had been living in the United States for 15 years.

Gaining her citizenship was a process that had her running around a good stretch of the Midwest.

"I got my fingerprint done in St. Louis, and then after I did an interview in Chicago, and when they finally did the ceremony in Springfield, that was the big moment," Patel said. "I felt more welcome. I saw all different kinds of people coming from all different kinds of countries."

For her first holiday season as a naturalized citizen, Patel said work might get in the way.

"I wish I could do some special plan, but since we have the family business, we are going to be so busy with the holidays coming," Patel said. "We are going to be here because we're going to be too busy."

Mo Yakhlef, 47, of Taylorville has lived in the United States for the past 11 years, first in Colorado. Though he was born in Jordan, his journey really began in Kuwait, where his father fought hard to establish a large construction firm. Yakhlef's father died in 1988, and two years later the Gulf War took everything from Yakhlef's family.

"When the war happened, we couldn't do anything," Yakhlef said. "They put their hands on all our bank accounts, and the army came in and put their hands on our construction equipment."

Yakhlef had been visiting the United States ever since he was a boy, and when it became evident he had few opportunities in Jordan, he came to America.

"I never had any freedom, or rights (in Jordan), as much as I have when I became an American citizen," Yakhlef said. "It's not, 'What do you know?' or 'What you can do?' but 'Who do you know?' That's the way it was there."

Now he is a vice president at ATY Building Systems, a company that bears his father's initials.

He and his wife, Ghada, were sworn in as citizens last month alongside Patel at the Old State Capitol in Springfield, and now their two older children, ages 18 and 14, have become citizens as a result. Their youngest child, 6, was born in the United States.

Yakhlef said that despite the opportunities and success he's found in the United States, he is sorry he doesn't have as many family members living nearby.

"That's the only thing that I miss about the old country," Yakhlef said. "I don't have a lot of family members around or people around who I grew up with where we can meet once a year. Other than that, I'm very thankful that I'm a citizen."

Yakhlef said being a Muslim has been no barrier to enjoying the American holiday season, and he's happy to see it come once again, this time as a citizen.

"I used to celebrate it every year, believe it or not," Yakhlef said. "I'm not a Christian, but I always celebrate Christmas, and Thanksgiving is a big thing for me."

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