being able to lead this nation to ever more fulfill its potential as a society committed to the common good, please hear me out.
I knew this past week was going to be a "killer" for me... I just didn't know how nearly that might have been a literal rather than figurative description. I had meetings scheduled in widely scattered cities in my home state of Oregon, organizing local Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) chapters, and regular Democratic party work. The weekend was our state Democratic Platform Convention, where I was scheduled to staff a Healthcare Not Warfare petition drive table, as well as serving as a delegate for my rural county.
I know... a lot of folks do much more, and I was actually looking forward to all of this activity, and once they commenced, was enjoying myself thoroughly. However, things took a dark and perilous turn suddenly.
By Sunday night, I nearly collapsed into my bed a little after midnight, leaving an early wakeup call for the final day of sessions. I didn't sleep long. At 2:30 a.m. I awoke from sound slumber with a blinding pain, as if I had suffered a gunshot to my chest. Having a cardiac history, I popped a nitro, and two more at five minute intervals, but the pain only got worse, and was traveling down my left arm. By the time I picked up the phone I could scarcely speak, and an alert desk clerk called 9-1-1 for me. Emergency responders arrived in remarkably short time, and I was quickly transported to Sacred Heart Hospital in Eugene, Oregon, which luckily has implemented a creative program designed to reduce "door to cath lab" time to record low levels.
Heart attacks are common in America, and I had already been advised that a problem in the design of a previously placed stent indicated that I was facing heart surgery within the next few years. Although I believe the research on that "product" was negligent, and that it is a travesty that big pharma gets away with such things nearly with impugnity, there's really nothing remarkable about any of the foregoing. I am, however, profoundly moved by what happened next.
I have no close family, and like millions of Americans I am underinsured. I count myself lucky that I have any health coverage at all. Sudden, unexpected healthcare costs could have made for a personal catastrophe. And there are the myriad details I couldn't attend to... my car in the motel parking lot, my personal effects in the room, the tabling materials at the PDA booth I was in charge of... not to mention the responsibilities of my leadership roles in the party and the organization I couldn't fulfill.
Members of my delegation and the Progressive Democrats of Oregon organizing team rallied immediately... first taking care of my personal arrangements, and making certain I was not facing a hospital stay alone. Like clockwork, the items on "my plate" for the party and other organizations were assumed by others whose lives are every bit as busy. Announcements were made, and a flood of cards, letters and emails wishing me well began to flow. Pass-the-hat collections were taken, and more than covered my deductibles, co-pays and discharge medications. My car was not only taken the five hour drive to my home, but the chair of my county party drove back to fetch me on my discharge. I am still being looked in on regularly.
Whatever frustrations I may have about the Democrats in Congress not moving as fast or as boldly as I think they might, one thing has to be said. When it comes to the fact that we, as Americans and as Citizens of the World, are all in this together... Democrats - Get - It !!! No matter how the opposition may make claims about thousands of points of light, or even ::gag:: compassionate conservatism, the official policies of the Democratic Party are founded on a basis which acknowledges the rights and responsibilities of being a part of a community, and that what threatens one threatens us all.
Granted, we don't always live up to it. But it's real. And I was the beficiary of it this week. And I will always be grateful. And I will always be a proud Democrat.