My Little Election Story

[DemocratSinceBirth]

Please indulge me in the dreaded vanity post...

As many of you know my mom passed away on September 28th. She was ninety years old and I took care of her in my own home the last twelve years of her life...We were very close...She was a life long Democrat who cast her first vote for Franklin Delano Roosevelt...Her first boyfriend was a quite liberal young man who was a community organizer who made impromptu speeches on street corners...He went on to work in the Lindsay mayoral administration...Linsday was a very liberal Republican who switched to Democrat...I actually met him once at my grandmother's funeral back in 1970 when I was just a boy...Wow, have I lived that long?

Flash forward to the future...

My mom just adored Hill and Bill...She also adored John Kennedy...I think their looks had something to do with it...She cast her last vote on what was a cold for Florida January day for Hillary Clinton...We were both profoundly disappointed when she lost but got over our disappointment and were ready to vote for Senator Obama... I already did...

Her best friends were an African American couple in their seventies; Nate and Mary...Nate is the coolest man I ever met... I met him while trying to trim my palm tree and making a total mess of it...He bought his trimmer and trimmed it in five minutes...I introduced him and his wife to my mom and they instantly bonded...Mary said was mom was like a grandmother to her...I told her since both my parents were gone she and Nate could be my surrogate parents...I should mention that Nate has two Bronze Stars; one from Korea and one from Viet Nam...He was born in Selma, Alabama in 1938 and grew up in the Jim Crow South so you know he felt and saw some pain...I asked him what motivated him to volunteer for the military of a nation that allowed him to be oppressed...He said he loved this nation's promise and wanted to see it fulfilled...

I went over there last night to invite them to my Obama victory party...What a glorious day it will be...Despite my lingering sadness I have something to feel good about...I was thinking about Thanksgiving...What do I have to be thankful for? Now I know; friends and an Obama victory...

We had a wonderful conversation...They were telling me about their now thirteen year old grandchild whose teacher told him at ten with his intelligence he would be the "first black president." Nate said I'm glad Obama is beating him to it... They have a big picture of the Last Supper in their dining room with a white Jesus and Disciples... I told him that I found that picture interesting because Jesus and his Disciples were probably brown skinned... I then remarked I don't care what color he is...I just will be happy to know he's there when the time comes...We all laughed...I told them my mom was all set to vote for Barack because she didn't want to see them disappointed....

I can't wait for Tuesday...

PEACE
DSB