Talking with my Abuelito about Obama

Last week I had a great conversation with my Abuelito (grandpa), that I think was the most inspiring conversation I have had about politics in awhile. And also, it was such a special interaction, even by phone, that I will always remember about him.

My abuelito is my only remaining grandparent still alive. His physical health is failing. He just turned 83 (0r 84? or 85? I forget, my bad), and his body is just getting weaker with old age. His lungs are weak, his kidneys are failing, he's always had a bad pancreas, and other stuff. Nevertheless, he is a fighter, and remains the strong patriarch of our family. To give some context, he and my Abuelita (who passed away ~5 years ago), brought my family over to the U.S. from their pueblito of Jalpa, Zacatecas, in Central Mexico. From the dirt road shack in their small town, my grandparents worked as carpenters and a seamstress in a LA clothing factory to raise the money to legally bring their children to the US. And from first settling in a small place in East LA, then to buying a modest but beautiful home in San Gabriel, they realized the American dream. My abuelito has worked so hard to create a higher quality life for his family, and has instilled values of hard work, faith, and responsibility that have been passed down throughout my family, particularly visible in my own dad, who is the most hard working, humble, respectful, decent, and loveable guy I know.

Anyway, back to my grandfather. Although his body is weak in old age, his mind, heart, and soul are still strong, as evidenced by this great conversation I'm about to write about. (Note, the whole conversation occured in spanish. He's hard of hearing, and though my spanish isn't super on-point, it's slightly better than his english. We've always had a language communication barrier, but still built a strong connection regardless.)

I called him to wish him a happy birthday, and ask him how he was doing. He couldn't hear me, because he has the TV so loud watching the evening noticias on Telemundo, ch 28. He then turned it down, and was glad to get the call.

I asked him what's up, and he said that he was just hanging in there, still having a hard time breathing, and just trying to take it easy. He was looking forward to having a bunch of the family come over the next day. However, despite all the physical pain he's going under, he made a point to mention that he was busy reading up on all the propositions that are on the California ballot for the November election.

I laughed, and asked him, "so are you decided yet?" And he was like, "well, there a bunch of different propositions that I need to learn about before I make a decision. however, of course I know I'm voting for Obama. Although we don't have Hillary, we need to support Obama".

I loved it! Both of us were formerly Hillary people! As a true blue Democrat, he's very loyal to the good years he experienced under the Clintons, and appreciated the Clinton pair that spoke to him and our community in a way that most other national politicians have not. Of course, I loved Hillary also because of her deep substantive knowledge and experience in public policy, her proven position on issues of healthcare and the economy, and the courage and strength she exuded as a positive role model of a public servant, and a woman.

Regardless, I was struck by his enthusiasm for supporting Obama--someone whose experience could not differ any more than that of my grandfathers. I don't know if my grandpa had ever really interacted or personally knew a black man in his life, much less a Harvard educated lawyer, with such a fancy vocab. My grandpa barely understands English, let alone the SAT words that Obama uses with great facility. But again, as a true blue Democrat, he's 100% behind him!

Anyway, my abuelito clearly cannot work anymore, so he has a lot of free time, but still chooses to exert the little energy he has on reading the different position statements on the tons of propositions of our populist California electoral system. Albeit, there are really important props coming up, its still a lot for even an able bodied, college educated, civicly-minded adult to parse through. Yet, I'm persuming he's getting his extra strengths glasses on to read the fine print of the props, the different state and local candidates, and of course, excited to keep informed about Obama's campaign, and the different poll numbers.

So I was amazed by him talking about all the issues, and realized just how much civic responsibility he has, and realized that might have been a source of my own excitement about the process. In that moment, I found more energy and optimism about it then all of the day-to-day punditry and press I hear on mass media, or even from my convos with most of my Ivy educated friends and colleagues. (Refer to my previous posting on leadership, and inspiration coming from talking with everyday Americans).

But at the same time, I was concerned, because I realized that I hadn't re-registered for this election yet, because of the difficulty of still using a California address, but not wanting to switch to DC (because I dont consider myself a long term resident, and dont want to be a part of a disenfranchised psuedo-semi-state entity), and yet also cannot quite vote at my dad's address in Nevada (a much more important swing state, but also where I dont have full time residence, nor a drivers license). And because I'm still a Californian through and through, I want to vote on the issues there, keep my Driver's license, and count in the state that I love so much. (Refer to my previous posting in California).

Anyway, I explained the situation to my grandpa, and told him to look out for my registration and absentee form that I'll go to the Post office for and send to his address. And he was like, 'Ok sure, because we gotta make sure you vote! We all have to vote'. I mean, the irony of the fact that I studied Political Science in college, am passionate and vocal about so many issues, have contributed and done minor volunteering for the Obama campaign, and consider politics to be one of my passions, yet would not vote in this election because of small logistical issues around location of registration, would be highly hypocritical.

And so I laughed, and I told him, indeed, and that I'll be voting, and he should remind all the others in the family to vote too!

In sum, this brief conversation help instilled in me the appreciate of the right to vote, which has not always existed for people of my background and gender in America, and still doesn't truly exist for many folks in the world. So it's not just my right, but my responsibility to vote, as opposed to just talking about politics, watching CNN in disgust, and bitching about how this country needs to turn around. Voting is the most basic, fundamental way to do something about it, and as that last Presidential debate moderator mentioned of his mother's saying, it will 'make you feel big and strong.'

So I look forward, like my grandfather, so submitting my CA absentee ballot, and casting a historic vote for Obama. Although he sadly won't be around much longer to see what the future will bring, he knows he's voting for a better future for his children and grandchildren, including me. And for that, I'm appreciate and proud that my grandpa is such an informed and active participant in the voting process, even into his 80s!