Mine, actually. I turn 47 on November 4, 2008, and I think you can all guess what I want as a gift from the American electorate - a huge Obama/Biden victory. I want this not just be cause it would be best for the nation and the world, but for a very selfish reason: in memory of my mother.
Details below the fold.
You see, November 4, 2003 was the last time I saw my mother alive, and for the last five years I have associated my birthday with her death. Now I want something positive and powerful to replace that association in my mind. My mother was beautiful, and brilliant, and very liberal. She was an ex-pat living in England, and was very creative, being in charge of properties for some theatres. I inherited my dramatic bug from her (yes, I am a thesbian), and she gave me strong support and encouragement in my theatrical endeavors.
In 2003, when she cancelled a trip to the U.S. because of her health, my sisters and I pushed her to get a second diagnosis. Unfortunately, it turned out that the breast cancer she had beaten over a decade earlier had returned, and had already matasticized to her liver. The doctors said she had no more than 2-3 months to live.
I flew over there, got her out of the hospital and back to her house, and cooked cheese omelettes for her (my "specialty" - at least her favorite). She asked my forgiveness for (percieved) mistakes she had made as a mother, and I assured her that there was nothing to forgive, because I knew she had always done her best. On November 4, she actually dug up a birthday card for me and kissed me goodbye, and I flew home, while my eldest sister came to take over caring for Ma. In a couple weeks, my other sister was going to take a shift, and then it would be my turn again in early December.
Alas, those shifts never came to pass, as my eldest sister called to let us know that Ma was deteriorating more rapidly than expected, and she was afraid the end was near. My other sister and I flew back to England on November 13, and while we were enroute, our mother died. Since then I could never enjoy my birthday, but always felt the sadness of that loss.
Now I have my opportunity to once again have a happy birthday. Although nothing can supplant my memories of her, I know how much Ma would have been thrilled to have seen something so monumental and great as Obama's victory, and the positives of that knowledge, coupled with the Hope it provides, should overcome the sadness I now feel.
That is why, no matter how much my feet have hurt, I don't mind knocking on doors, and marching in parades with an Obama sign held high. We (my lovely wife is on board all the way) have let our household debt grow a bit in order to contribute to the cause. I will be taking November 4 off work, and instead I will honor my mother's memory by working hard to help bring Change the world needs.