Wow. It's nearly midnight and I'm still reeling from the day I just had! My thoughts are swimming around in my head and I'm trying to make sense of things. But maybe it doesn't really matter, the 'making sense' part. Maybe the value is in the mere feeling and thinking alone.
James and I started our day off by getting him a 'hair cup.' He sat in her chair on the booster seat all by himself. There was no fretting. He was intimidated- for sure- but he trusted my directions and all went really well. Of course, the barber shop talk was thick with bubbling of today's voting here in Texas. It was great to hear other opinions and people valuing their right in the process. James got a dapper 'do and we started our morning feeling lucky to be Americans.
Then we drove out to Conroe to see my second graders. I promised them a visit with James and I wanted to drop off a class present from me. I was their student teacher for 6 weeks and fell head over heels for 21 of the best and the brightest Conroe, Texas has to offer. I had the privilege to shadow one of the best teachers in the process. I can't say enough about my experience at Buckalew Elementary. James was welcomed with 21 hugs. I had flowers wrapped in foil fresh from flowerbeds of my students. James sang his songs and did all of his tricks. My students couldn't wait to tell me that they voted, too, today. They held their own mock vote and graphed the results. They are smack dab in the middle of a government unit. Regardless what you feel about politics- when you teach introductory lessons about government to a group of wide eyed second graders, things really start to resonate with you.
It's easy to feel apathetic... or disillusioned... or powerless. It's easy to just huddle with the majority that surrounds you and only contribute 'yeah, what they said' to any topic of debate. BUT when you are teaching second graders why there are 7 red stripes on our flag and 6 white ones, you are required to think. When you are in a rocking chair reading stories about Ellis Island to kids huddled together around your ankles, you are required to feel. When you watch kids color and paste and cut and create their own Statue of Liberty to hang in a harbor of blue construction paper, you are required to make a decision. Who am I? What am I teaching? What do I want for these children? What do I want for myself?
Then the answers come. Now, what am I willing to do about it?
We voted today in the Texas Primary Elections. On our way out of Kingwood, we swung by the local library to check things out. I knew my precinct was voting at the Christian Church- but I saw the signs outside the library--- all the cars were turning in to the library--- so I went with the flow to double check myself. *Yes, I have make similar driving decisions on tax day but that story is for another post*
Anywho, James and I unloaded to see if I was in the right place. I wasn't. BUT before I left, a big burly guy wanted to know if I was a Republican or a Democrat. You can imagine I wanted to explain why I once was a Republican.... and all the things that led up to me deciding that I wasn't a Republican at all... BUT, I made a wise choice and simply answered, "Democrat. And one in the wrong place, at that!" We left and went two blocks over to the Christian Church. The exchange must have made an impression on James Neal. As we were walking up to the church from our car, we were greeted by campaigners. James immediately through up his hands and shouted, "I'm a DEMOCRAT! I'm a DEMOCRAT!" Luckily, it was the right answer for the right crowd of people. Here is a quick snap of our FIRST voting adventure. It was exciting... something about the whole process is really inspirational. As we were walking in to vote, an elderly gentleman of about 90ish years old was walking out, with the assistance of what looked to be his son. He was helping his dad walk gingerly out and I overheard him saying, "Good job, Dad. I'm proud of you for making this effort. It was always you who inspired me to excercise my own right to vote. That kind of makes you a hero. You didn't have to be here... but you were." The older man said, "I'm glad it's done. As long as I still have my mind, I still have my voice." *chills*
We then went home and waited to go back to the polls with Marcus when he got home from work. The voting station was only one block away from our house... so we enjoyed the weather and strolled over to meet him. The lines were longer, but the place was brimming with excitement. (6pm)
*NOW comes the fun part* We strolled as a family back to caucus at 7pm. We got there around 6:45pm and the place was really busy still! Then more people came. The caucus turn out was spectacular! There were so many people from the four precincts that there wasn't room to house us all and conduct the caucuses. We had to file in to the sanctuary a precinct or two at a time. A fairly short process took FOREVER. But it didn't matter. There were people waiting in the cold for their chance to vote. The elderly, young mothers with children, Black people, White people, Hispanic people, Democrats, Republicans... you name it, they were there. All waiting nicely... just waiting to play a part in our Democracy!
Finally our precinct met. It was nice to look around at the faces that live so near to me. People who are willing to DO SOMETHING and play their part in the process. I was proud of what I saw. I love my village even more, now. Our votes were unbelievably close! Barack won 47 votes. Hillary won 40! Which means of our 14 delegates, 8 will be cast in favor of Obama and 6 for Clinton. Cool, huh? NOW here comes the crazy part. Once the delegate votes are finalized- you need people to volunteer to be a delegate. In this case, we needed 8 people to represent the precint for Obama and 6 for Clinton. Because the caucus took SO LONG (almost 3+ hours) many people had left after casting their vote... so pickins were slim for the delegates. SO, I volunteered to be a delegate! Marcus volunteered to be an alternate. It's so cool that 8 people from my community will go to the convention on the 29th of March and cast our votes in favor of our vote. This whole experience has been pretty fantastic. There is so much opportunity out there... so much hope! It's refreshing to say the least. I want James to see his parents asking questions and working things out... defining our beliefs... being brave enough to say that we feel differently now... and being okay with it.
My family has given me a hard time about what I believe. It made me feel insecure at first- but I've decided that it's all about perspective. The more my Daddy grumbles at me about my political views, the more opportunity is given for me to evaluate myself and form my own opinions. He's insinuated that I'm young, my candidate is young, and that perhaps my views may be more of a fad than conviction. However I've come to realize that he should know better than to think that. After all, I am HIS child.
**All of that to say, I am proud to be an American.
"The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof." -- Barbara Kingsolver
As for me and my boys... we live under the roof of hope.
1 comment:
Deep. Very deep. You better LOVE politics if you are gonna be moving back to LA...that is the only way you can tolorate LA politics. Coming from a political family I have sort of a skewed view of politics. But I still appreciate my right to vote!
Post a Comment