My personal journey through politics.
2003 was a very bad year. In 2002 my mother went into liver failure. I did my best to keep her alive. In early 2003 she got a transplant, struggled with it and then went into rejection and died after 5 months. The same week her rejection was diagnosed, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Two weeks after my surgery, my mother died. I went back to work directly after my chemotherapy and was immediately demoted to a lower position. I felt on the outsides of life.
My husband and I have always been activists. In 2004, to stop this war, it was more important than ever to elect a Democrat. Through the fog of my recovery, I felt inspired by Howard Dean’s strong position against going into Iraq and his background as a physician. As it got close to Iowa voting, I started to hear about this person, John Edwards, and his two Americas speech. I didn’t want Dean to lose and I wasn’t sure about this Edwards person. Though attractive, compared to Dean, he seemed too mild from the short clips I saw on TV.
But Dean did lose, and so we adopted Kerry and worked hard to try to get him elected. I felt somewhat purposeful again. I got to know John Edwards a little better. I wondered why he didn’t have a higher profile in the campaign.
When Kerry lost and I subsequently heard that Elizabeth Edwards had just been diagnosed with breast cancer, I was kind of stunned and struck by the strength that both Elizabeth and John demonstrated in handling the situation. Though they hadn’t spoken much about it back then, at some point I had also learned about the death of their first son. Still being in grief for my mother and in a funk about my own situation, the example of the Edwards shook me up. They had so much more grief to deal with than I did, that I had no right to flounder.
But we have our ups and downs. Over the next couple of years, when I felt low, I would look up Elizabeth Edwards name to see how she was doing. Any news I could get about her made me feel better. Eventually, I came across the Edwards’ series of podcasts, discussions about books they were reading and interviews with some of the authors. These talks were about poverty. I got to experience the Edwards as regular, thoughtful, people. I enjoyed them. And it was very inspiring to see Elizabeth dealing with her chemotherapy with so much optimism.
I was thrilled that John was running again for President and moved by his choice to announce his decision from New Orleans, in the midst of poverty. Shocked it didn’t receive news coverage. As his campaign unfolded I was impressed with his preparation, his ideas for our country, and thrilled that he threw off the timidity of four years ago. With courage and fearlessness, Edwards presented himself to us as his own man. He became the candidate I always wanted. He became the voice for me; someone who felt that they lost their voice.
The Edwards had already shown me how to live, but with the recurrence of Elizabeth’s cancer I watched that demonstration of strength unfold before my eyes. They chose to live fighting for what they believe in, and I will always remember that lesson. With all the examples of struggling people that John has highlighted in his campaign and speeches, it is really the example of John and his own family that is most prominently set before us to learn from.
In John Edwards, I feel that I have watched the journey of a good person become a great one, and I have metaphorically reached out to accept the hand being offered.