On Friday, I spent the day at my mother’s nursing home and took some pictures to commemorate Mary voting for Hillary! Mary was born in 1917, 3 years before U.S. women were able to vote. I had called her right after the Democratic Convention and told her I was excited and happy about Hillary and Tim’s chances for winning this election. She said, “Well, I always liked Hillary.” I wasn’t sure that she was going to vote in this election as she has severe macular degeneration (though she loves her large print cozy mysteries!) and is very hard of hearing, so she no longer watches television and really isn’t up on current events anymore. But I suspect she realized that this was a very important election.
On a recent visit, I found out that election officials were coming to the nursing home to assist residents who wished to vote! Mother told my sister and me that she wanted to vote, so I thought it would be a great idea to come and take a few pictures. My sister and I told her, “Your grandchildren and great-grandchildren will thank you for this!”
My sister, Mommy and that’s me on the right. #We’reWithHer!
So on Friday morning, I drove out to the nursing home. It was an absolutely gorgeous day in rural Illinois. It’s a two hour drive for me, but somehow I didn’t notice the time going by. Voting was scheduled for 1:30 in the chapel, so we had lunch in the sunny atrium overlooking a pretty garden and then went back to Mary’s room. I had brought my guitar, so I sang some songs for Mother (including “Purple People Eater,” which made her laugh). We talked a little about the election, and she wasn’t sure who Tim Kaine was. I told her that he was great, that he’d never lost an election and that he had been a missionary once. She liked that, because she is the child of China missionary parents.
We got to the chapel early, but there was a long wait! They had the Cubs rally on the big screen TV, so a bunch of us spent the time talking about game 7. Lots of Cubs fans in this little town!
Mary is pretty patient, but not too interested in baseball.
Soon, it was Mary’s turn! The ballot was pretty short and she announced to the official that she was voting straight Dem!
Signing the ballot!
It was a great day for all of us, and I’m so proud of my mother!
She voted for FDR, too!
Oh, by the way, here’s a little info about Mary: She was born to missionaries in China in 1917 and had 3 brothers, one her twin. She spent most of her childhood moving between China and the U.S., living in mission homes and generally having a fabulous, interesting life. She graduated from Heidelberg College in Ohio and became a teacher and a writer. After the war, she moved to Illinois, published her first novel, married my Daddy and had four kids. She worked as a free-lance writer, a tutor, a nurse’s aide, a special needs teacher and (in her spare time) an antiques dealer. Want to know more? I’m so glad you asked! She finished her second book, a memoir last year, “Child of Two Countries: My China Legacy” available on Amazon!
www.amazon.com/…
Little girl Mary!
And this is just because I love this photo...
Just the girls. Even grandpuppy Emma is proud!
Postscript: This is my very first diary here! I fumbled through the formatting (which looks okay from here) and I’m not sure what tags to add, so any help will be appreciated.
