My life as an activist

I am a shy person by nature. People who know me will say I talk a lot, sometimes too much. My children will point out that I will talk to complete strangers in stores, even on the street. But despite those undeniable facts, I am shy. I often get sick when I am supposed to go to parties with people I know, because being with people in a work situation and in a social situation are so totally different. Thursday night I went to a Democratic Women's Council Holiday party, even though I don't go to the monthly meetings, so that I could meet John Edwards. I have wanted to meet him for years, and was so determined that I overcame my normal shyness for it. It turned out better than I could have ever dreamed, and it was good that I was there, in a sense, because someone I know who really doesn't know that many people in Charleston was also there, and seeing me and having someone to talk to helped him.

I started this to kind of explain how I act on behalf of candidates. Last year I very bravely (for me) volunteered to make telephone calls for the congressional races in Ohio and another state, I can't remember off the bat which one. It was great, because I did it from home, using my computer and my telephone, and I felt that I was helping (even though I didn't really talk to that many people). Tonight I wrote letters to people in Iowa, and maybe they will throw them out or maybe they won't but for me it was a pretty brave thing.

Years ago, when Bill Clinton first ran for president, I felt hope when I heard him talk about change for America. I haven't felt that hope for a long time, but when I hear John Edwards talk about the things we need to change, and what he will do to help bring it about, hope once again stirs, and even stronger than back then. He has the courage of his convictions. And he is fearless. When you have lost a child, as he and Elizabeth have (and incidentally as I have), you realize that life can't throw anything worse at you, and you start to know what is really important. Losing my child has made me braver, just as losing my outgoing brother inspired me to talk to strangers in stores. Death is not the ideal cure for shyness, but death and the fear of what the Republicans have done to this country over the last two decades (and even before) have given me courage. Unlike me, JRE is not afraid of the Republicans, because he has faith that Americans are ready to do the right thing and throw them out. I pray he is right.