President Obama
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Happy Birthday, Mom!
Last week I did something I've never done before. Might even be hard to believe, but I've never donated money to a presidential candidate. Last week I gave Barack Obama some of my hard earned cash.
I also signed up to receive a text message on my phone when he announces his Vice Presidential candidate. Why? Because I can. I love technology and I love that his campaign is embracing it. (Text VP to 62262 or join at BarackObama.com.)
I've been following him on my new addiction, Twitter.
Senator Obama is meeting with 10 supporters backstage before he accepts the nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. One of the chosen 10 is Eric Melder of Carlisle, PA. His bio is below and I've made bold the part I thought was very cool.
Eric Melder of Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Eric is a 59-year-old married father of three sons and a grandparent to seven grandchildren. A retired YMCA director, he has worked at Diakon Wilderness Center for the past 13 years counseling young men with drug, alcohol, and family problems. "The boys call me 'E-rock' and I do all I can to make a difference in their lives," writes Eric. A self-proclaimed "values voter" and evangelical Christian, Eric switched his allegiance from Mike Huckabee to Barack, convinced by Barack's ability to lead and build coalitions. Eric is bringing Anthony, a former student at the Wilderness Center, who overcame immense hardships, including an absent father and a drug-addicted mother, to ultimately become Program Director of the Center. "Barack needs to meet him," Eric says.
I can't remember if I blogged this thought a few months ago or not. But if I thought about it deeply, I could get a little teary at the thought that we had a woman and an African American running for president. I'm old enough to remember the ERA. I'm old enough to remember seeing a "Whites Only" sign on the laundromat door when we lived in Atlanta, Georgia. I had to ask Mom what it meant, because all I could figure out in my 7 year old mind was you could only wash your white clothes there, you had to take the rest of your clothes elsewhere, which made no sense to me. Turns out the real meaning made no sense to me either. Yeah, that's a cute kid story in a way but mostly it's meaningful because I remember it 45 years later.
My point is that I wasn't sure I would ever see this day. I can only imagine what Eric's friend Anthony is thinking. Not only is this possibly an event he likely thought never to happen in his lifetime, he gets to be a part of it and meet the man himself. Win or lose, Barack Obama running for president is life-changing, for a lot of people.
.
I also signed up to receive a text message on my phone when he announces his Vice Presidential candidate. Why? Because I can. I love technology and I love that his campaign is embracing it. (Text VP to 62262 or join at BarackObama.com.)
I've been following him on my new addiction, Twitter.
Senator Obama is meeting with 10 supporters backstage before he accepts the nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. One of the chosen 10 is Eric Melder of Carlisle, PA. His bio is below and I've made bold the part I thought was very cool.
Eric Melder of Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Eric is a 59-year-old married father of three sons and a grandparent to seven grandchildren. A retired YMCA director, he has worked at Diakon Wilderness Center for the past 13 years counseling young men with drug, alcohol, and family problems. "The boys call me 'E-rock' and I do all I can to make a difference in their lives," writes Eric. A self-proclaimed "values voter" and evangelical Christian, Eric switched his allegiance from Mike Huckabee to Barack, convinced by Barack's ability to lead and build coalitions. Eric is bringing Anthony, a former student at the Wilderness Center, who overcame immense hardships, including an absent father and a drug-addicted mother, to ultimately become Program Director of the Center. "Barack needs to meet him," Eric says.
I can't remember if I blogged this thought a few months ago or not. But if I thought about it deeply, I could get a little teary at the thought that we had a woman and an African American running for president. I'm old enough to remember the ERA. I'm old enough to remember seeing a "Whites Only" sign on the laundromat door when we lived in Atlanta, Georgia. I had to ask Mom what it meant, because all I could figure out in my 7 year old mind was you could only wash your white clothes there, you had to take the rest of your clothes elsewhere, which made no sense to me. Turns out the real meaning made no sense to me either. Yeah, that's a cute kid story in a way but mostly it's meaningful because I remember it 45 years later.
My point is that I wasn't sure I would ever see this day. I can only imagine what Eric's friend Anthony is thinking. Not only is this possibly an event he likely thought never to happen in his lifetime, he gets to be a part of it and meet the man himself. Win or lose, Barack Obama running for president is life-changing, for a lot of people.
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Labels: Fun Stuff I Found Online, Life Update
posted by Stefani at 6:04 AM
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3 Comments:
I was raised the color of your skin was not important. Granted no other color but white was in our little home town.
So imagine my shock now to realize a lot of 'yankee's' are not for a black man for president.
I'm pretty good at picking up the real reason some bloggers don't like him too.
I love the beautiful flowers you sent me for my birthday. Simon called and left a message wishing me a Happy Birthday while I was out having a massage. If you thot you would never see a woman or a person of color run for president you can be sure I never thot I would! I don't care what sex or skin color as long as we get a good president!
This is Eric Melder from Carlisle, PA. Thank you for the kind words. Anthony are really excited to be attending the convention ... and by our opportunity to meet with Barack backstage just before he gives his historic acceptance speech before 75,000 people. Thanks again.
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