I was in a quandary. I didn't support any candidate for President during the primary season. I had gotten burnt out by my very active, very time-consuming support of Governor Dean and couldn't take that kind of emotional roller coaster again.
But I always vote. So, in the few days leading to the Illinois primary, I had decided to simply cast my vote for my newly adopted daughter. However, that still left me with a dilemma. Do I cast a vote in hopes that my daughter will have a female President as an early role model? Or, do I cast my vote in hopes of her having a biracial President as an early role model?
You see, my daughter is her own UN: African-American, Puerto Rican, Mexican, and Caucasian.
After much internal debate, I opted for the latter and cast my vote for Obama.
The twist after the jump.
Just a few days ago we were off to celebrate my mother's 75th birthday, the 10th anniversary of my father's death, AND, my daughter's first birthday. (Yes, it was one day on the calendar we couldn’t forget.)
As our first stop was church (and a Greek Orthodox one at that), my husband donned a dress shirt and tie. I put on a rare (for me) dress.
"You look beautiful," my 3 1/2-year-old biological son told me. I love to get compliments ... but those from my son just melt me.
Then, he took a look at my husband and said, "Daddy, who are you pretending to be?" As the topic of Halloween pops up quite often lately, we weren’t surprised by this question.
He looked at Gus, and asked, "What do you mean?"
"You're wearing a tie," he said.
My husband laughed. "Yes, Gus, I'm wearing a tie."
"Are you pretending to be Barack Obama?" he asked.
We burst out laughing. Too much MSNBC in my house, perhaps? My husband is tall, yes, and thin, yes, but very Scandinavian.
My son then asked to wear a tie. Did he want to look like Obama? "No," he said, "SpongeBob."
Throughout the day, I thought back to that moment. It never ceased to make me smile. But soon I realized the more important meaning behind it.
My little Greek/Scandinavian toddler looked at his father and saw stature and respect. He saw someone he loves, too. And what he also saw was the future President of the United States. The only thing he didn’t see was color.
I voted for Obama for my daughter. But now I know I really should have voted for my son.