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The Thrill of Lady Liberty July 9, 2012
About 4 weeks ago, Brent and I attended a meeting of local Democrats here in Custer County, Colorado. It was a meager group to say the least; seven of us were in attendance. One of the items on the meeting’s agenda was the upcoming Fourth of July parade. I had told Brent on the way to the meeting that there was no way I wanted to walk in a parade, let alone one that – if it was like last summer – boasted only 4 Democrats! He understood, but disagreed. He wanted to walk this year. By the end of the meeting, not only had I committed to walking in the parade myself, but Brent had volunteered to print postcards, stamp them, and send them to the 300 registered Democrats in this town, inviting them to join us. Long story short: while I was traveling in New York last month, Brent purchased a Lady Liberty costume for me to walk the parade in, and an Uncle Sam costume for him. When Wednesday arrived, we got up early, put our costumes on and waited to see if anyone else would show up. Sure enough, over 50 previously silent voters arrived with signs to carry, all of which had benign, non-controversial messages on them. Things like: “Citizen,” “Disabled Veteran,” “Voter,” “Mother of four,” and, in my case, “Singer-Songwriter.” Two of our members arrived on horse back, most were over the age of 50. It was thrilling! This town is generally conservative in its thinking, so the 50 or so of us that walked together were reminding our neighbors that there are other points of view which need to be heard. Dressed as the Statue of Liberty while supporters and hecklers shouted their opinions at us down Main Street made me proud. I couldn’t stop smiling. I felt alive and fully engaged in the democracy that we have worked so hard to preserve over the last couple hundred years. As the next four months unfold, and the nastiness of the campaigns beat us up at every turn, I hope I can keep that smile in tact, and I hope that you can too. Have a good week. Love to you all, Bar
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