EAST COBB - As she finished up the years-long process of becoming a U.S. citizen this summer, Colombia native Dr. Esmeralda Meyer looked around for a suitable book that would explain the naturalization process to her young son, Charlie.

"In my son's eyes, and this is a 4 - year-old, everybody was an American," Meyer said.

"He knew Grandma comes from Colombia and Mom's from Colombia, but it never registered that they're different places. In his mind everybody's American."

Meyer, a research associate in the Emory Vaccine Center's malaria program, said she found just the book at the Cobb Mountain View Library, titled "Becoming a Citizen" by Sarah De Capua. She was so pleased with it that she and her husband, Al Meyer, a Lockheed engineer, recently presented 11 copies to Marietta City Schools through the Marietta Kiwanis Club, of which Al Meyer is a member.

Meyer came to work for Emory's malaria program in 1999 on a work permit after finishing her medical degree in Colombia. After marrying in 2003, she applied for a permanent residency card, also known as a green card, which she obtained in 2006. One surprising fact she learned from her immigration lawyer along the way is that 70 percent of marriages between U.S. citizens and foreigners are not "good faith" marriages.

"They're convenience marriages," Meyer said.

"People who arrange marriages overseas and say, 'if you marry me and bring me over to the United States then I can become a citizen, and we can go separate ways.' The citizen gets paid a certain amount of money so the individual becomes legal," she said.

The immigration system ensures or at least makes an attempt to ensure marriages are legitimate by requiring a long list of documentation, showing that the couple has a joint bank account, the same address, file their taxes together, and share leases and mortgages.

"Anything that can demonstrate that we are indeed living together and we're a couple, we're a family," she said.

But all of this work is as it should be, Meyer believes.

"The class of citizenship should be something very special, and I don't mind immigration services holding you for 10 years before you become a citizen because it's something you as a person need to decide not because it's convenient but because it's something you want to do," she said.

"Becoming a citizen has meaning. It is not something that is just a document, a naturalization certificate you receive. It's the fact that being a citizen you pledge allegiance to the flag. You sing the national anthem. You see the patriotic holidays with a different meaning - not as an immigrant that you just come here to earn a salary or earn a living because you can't do it back in your home country - but becoming a citizen is something that grows in your heart and you are part of that American family," she said.

These are some of the lessons she wants to teach her son.

"We want him to understand all the privileges and opportunities that he has here that he could not have in Colombia, for example. This is a very special place. This is the best place to be if you can choose one. You can do what you want to do to; be the best you can be. If you want to be nothing fine you can sit on your couch and still the government will subsidize you and keep you alive, but if you want to go beyond that and explore your potential and be the best you can be there will always be opportunity and people to help you reach that goal."Marietta Schools Superintendent Dr. Emily Lembeck congratulated Meyer on successfully completing all requirements to become a citizen.

"She accomplished something very important and chose to donate the book "Becoming a Citizen" to our schools as her special way of celebrating this accomplishment," Lembeck said.

Lembeck said Meyer plans to stop by Park Street Elementary and read the book to the students.

"When she shares her story the book will truly come alive and have even greater impact," Lembeck said.