Life After We Do's

A motivational evening. I have been glued to the TV the past week, watching the speeches, finding myself moved by the chance of change. Last night the night I had been waiting to see, when the man I hope to be the next President took the stage. What he delivered I found to be a direct, eloquent speech that inspired me to hope that we can get back to the place I know we can. I told Keith I want to volunteer in someway to help with the campaign. He asked me why I cared so much. I think the answer is a simple one. Many think that politics don't affect them, that what goes on in Washington doesn't trickle down to their everyday life. However, I find when I look at my life that in the past 8 years it has interrupted every aspect of my life.

I feel it when I go to pay for gas and instead of costing me $40.00 it cost me $80.00.

I felt it when I lost my job, and my families health care.

I felt it when my mother-in-law was dying and we wondered after her leave time ran out from her job, how we would pay for her cancer care to keep her alive. Wondering how it would work, would they move her to some other hospital, filling out piles of paperwork at a time when you just want to appreciate the person who is dying.

I felt it when we waited on pins and needles to see if my father would be accepted for coverage in a rehabilitation center, and our family would not have to pay the premium of $100.00 a day.

I felt it when homes around me started to go into foreclosure and our "American Dream" became a nightmare. When we began paying for a home that was worth far less than what we bought it for. A starter home, that we now may be stuck in for years to come. A home that is no longer an investment for retirement, or for Darrian's college fund. Instead one that may damage all the thing I want to do for my family.

I felt it when the bonuses ran out, when the pay could not keep up with the rising cost of living.

I feel it when I check out at the grocery store and spend more than I ever have to feed my family.

I felt it when the people around me graduated and could not find jobs in their field, when friends lost their jobs and struggled to make ends meet.

I feel it when My Mom who has worked hard her entire life, decides weather or not she will retire based on health care cost.

I feel it when I ride Bart past the 4000 plus crosses that decorate the hill in Orinda, one for each fallen solider in the war.

I could go on and on, but this race in this moment is EXTREMELY important to me. To the future of my family. I will vote for Barak Obama not because he is the same ethnicity of my son, not because he is youthful, not because he is liked by Oprah. I will vote for him because I NEED the next four years to be different than the last, and I believe him to be the only man of the two running who can do it.