(or Life In the Town That Time Forgot)
My mother is an amazing woman. She is the youngest 73-year old I have ever known. She’s raised 4 relatively well-adjusted children, has 4 grand children and 4 great grand children. I have gotten many things from her throughout my lifetime. Her knowledge, wisdom and unconditional love have gotten me through some really tough times over the years. In a word, she is my inspiration.
My grandmother passed away several years ago. As a result, Mother and her Aunt Alma have become "running buddies" and that’s where this story is going...
...after the jump
NOTE: To get the proper inflection, please pronounce the word "Aunt" in your head as "ain’t" for the full effect of this diary.
Mother is a life-long Democrat and not afraid to tell anyone, either.
That’s saying quite a bit considering that she lives in a part of East Texas that is a cultural wasteland of low-information mankind. You know the kind of place...a "really fancy" restaurant wraps their silverware in paper napkins. Growing up, the traffic lights started flashing at midnight (still do in many parts of town). Friday night football was THE place to be and be seen. To this day, kids "drag Broadway" just as they did in the movie American Graffiti. Church attendance 3 times a week, plus Bible study is still the norm. It's in a "dry" county, so you have to drive to the county line (and park behind the liquor store) to buy alcohol...including beer).
To realize just how engaged Mother is, she convinced Aunt Alma to make a "pilgrimage" to Arkansas right after the Clinton Library opened. Always up for an adventure, Aunt Alma said sure and off they went! Before they had even gotten back home, I had received a "care package" in the mail. Mother had taken the time to get every piece of literature and brochure from the library and mail them to me from Little Rock (probably the greatest distance Aunt Alma’s been from her home). She came back home with a "Bill Clinton Library" sticker on her back window, much to my fundie sister’s dismay, I’m sure.
Once a week, Mother and Aunt Alma get in Mother’s van and drive to Longview for lunch and some serious antiquing. Frequently, especially in the last year, their conversations as they’ve driven, eaten and shopped have turned to the elections. Mother was an early supporter of Obama’s. In fact, I think she warmed up to him before I did! (He wasn’t my first choice, but he has become my BEST choice!) I’m not going to try to justify my Aunt’s opinion, but let’s just say that it’s really difficult for a 90-year old East Texan to get her mind wrapped around the thought of an African American President. I can’t tell you the number of times Mother has called and fumed to me, "If Aunt Alma tells me she just can’t vote for "that n*gger" one more time, I don’t know what I’ll do!" The only reassurance I’ve been able to offer is to say, "Now, Mother, you know she doesn’t mean it. That’s just the mindset of the people of that generation and part of the world." Truly, if you aren’t from there, it’s hard to conceive that the "n-word" isn’t necessarily meant with malice, especially amongst the elderly. That doesn’t mean that there isn’t prejudice in it, however. Aunt Alma, although a wonderful woman in many ways, is of the generation that has a hard time not thinking "they" need to "know their place". (Did I mention that I got out of town as soon as I could and only go back for "command performances"?) There is so much about my hometown that I find intolerable...perhaps growing up as a self-loathing, closeted gay Christian has some bearing on why I feel that way about "home"...but that’s not the point of this diary.
"That Woman’s" introduction to the Republican ticket motivated my mother to find the Democratic Headquarters in her county. Naturally, it’s on the "black side of town"(yes, that’s sarcasm and yes, there is still a side of town, across the tracks, where the vast majority of African Americans live). Poorly marked. Mother drove around the block twice to be sure it was the right building. She parked, got out of the van determined to volunteer. Unfortunately, she tripped and fell on the sidewalk on the way in and was so rattled by the fall that she left without ever making it inside the building...but she wasn’t to be denied participation! She called several weeks ago with the enthusiasm of a school girl who’s just been asked to the prom by the captain of the football team. "Guess what I did today?" (With my adventurous mother, that could mean almost anything so I just paused knowing she would tell me without submitting a guess.) "I went to the Obama web site and got a list of people to call in Florida! It was kinda scary at first, but I ended up having a great time! I’m calling Ohio next!"
In closing, on this most historic of historic election days, I just received this e-mail from Mother:
David,
Do you remember Ivy Dee Fuller (Lena May White’s) mother? Well this beautiful story is about her and my Aunt Alma.
Ivy Dee (WHO IS 96) called Aunt Alma (who is 90) yesterday to see if she would take her to vote. Well, because Ivy Dee can't stand for long periods of time they decided to go at 6:30 AM. Well, they did but a few early birds had already made it to the polls to vote before going to work. So, Aunt Alma said, "we will wait a little while and they will all clear out and then we can vote". So they did. And to me the remarkable part of the story is that here are two old old ladies who a few months ago would have called the candidate a "nigger man", got up at this early time and made their way to the voting place to vote for an outstanding young man who is an African American candidate.
Isn't that a beautiful story? It needs to be on CNN and Obama needs to know about it, especially it would be comforting to him because of the loss of his grandmother Sunday. Do you know anyway we could get this story out so more people can be inspired by it?
Call me and let’s talk about it, OK? (e-mail me back will do just as good)
Your excited mother
Mom
Mom just got her first computer about a year ago. Other than e-mail, the Barry Manilow fan sites (try explaining Bette Midler, Barry Manilow and the Continental Baths to your 73-year old Mother), the University of Texas football site and the CNN site, it’s taking her a little while to get up to speed...My election "surprise" is to send her a link to this diary.
What do you all think? Is this human interest election story worthy of greater distribution? Anyone have any ideas how to get the word out?