"Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious Ambiguity." ~ Gilda Radner

Monday, August 27, 2012

ONE CHILD BORN TO CARRY ON

Two passionate politicos...who knew?
So on Saturday my fortune cookie advised me that a cheerful letter or message was on its way to me.

I was skeptical.

But by late Sunday afternoon, the cookie's prediction manifested itself by way of an AWESOME phone call from my son. And I am still smiling! And oh, so cheerful!

I mean, what life-long-political-activist Mom wouldn't be thrilled to discover that the reason she hadn't heard from her one-and-only college sophomore Sonny Boy all day  is because -- drum roll please -- he was busy canvassing for President Barack Obama!

"You're what?" I  asked, thinking I may have had a bad connection between his cell phone and my land line and hadn't heard correctly.

"I'm canvassing for Obama downtown," Daniel said.

As in downtown Iowa City.

OMG, DANIEL!  YAY! ATTA BOY!

My only child, a young liberal after my own heart!

"So, like what exactly are you doing?" I asked, barely able to contain my excitement.

Registering Obama supporters to vote, he replied.

President Barack Obama in Iowa  City
Not an easy thing to do, approaching people you don't know, inquiring about their political affiliation... and when an Obama supporter, making sure they are registered and ready to vote Nov. 6. If not a Obama supporter, a friendly tip of the hat and a "good afternoon". 

And oh, such an important, necessary job in the midst of such a heated, neck-and-neck presidential campaign! GOTV! Get Out The Vote!

Canvassing, making phone calls, registering voters, volunteering your time any way you can on behalf of a political candidate you wholeheartedly believe in is probably the best way for a young American to get their political feet wet.

I was absolutely giddy at the news!  My son, the growing political activist! A chip off the ol'  MOMocrat block! 

Makes me proud to think Daniel is realizing, as I did at about the same age, that democracy is not a spectator sport!

I was equally as thrilled when last spring he stood in line for hours to get tickets to President Obama's speech on campus. And he was up at the crack of dawn to make sure he got a good seat.

Could he have inherited my passion for politics? Was he deeply inspired by my whirlwind weekend bus trip to Washington, D.C., several years ago where I joined thousands of other concerned Americans protesting the Iraq war?

Had he actually listened to my stories over the years about canvassing the Chicago suburbs in support of the Equal Rights Amendment back in the early 80s?


Just me, RFK, Jr., and a couple other CAFO protesters...
Or were the seeds of political activism planted when Daniel was but nine years old and I, his mother the diehard investigative newspaper reporter/political protester, returned fired up after covering the annual hog summit at the famous Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, IA, where Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. had, during his opening speech, referenced my in-depth article on the environmental dangers related to large-scale/corporate-owned Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs)?

Following Kennedy's speech, I asked him for his autograph for Daniel. And he quickly scribbled, as if from one political activist to another, perhaps foreseeing my young son following in my footsteps: "To Daniel...See You At the Barricades."

OK, so more than likely it was the cute co-ed from down the dorm hall who invited Daniel to get involved with Obama campaign that inspired him most...but that's beside the point.

The important thing is, he is involved in the political process, passionate about doing what he can to help re-elect our president.  Alas, my work here on earth is done!

One child born to carry on, to carry on!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Awesome!