Rip Goes to the Polls

I don’t have much stomach for the political process.  I really find this Presidential primary season particularly distressing with the campaign platforms built on hatred and fear and polarization, and the name-calling, and the let’s-win-this-thing-by-smearing-our-opponent attitudes. 

There have been many times in the past that I found myself in the unenviable position of voting against the most objectionable candidate for President of the United States.

However, in the current cesspool of opportunistic scoundrels seeking the highest office in our land, there is one shining light – one candidate who is everything the other candidates are not, who is eminently qualified for the position.

This time, I will be enthusiastically voting FOR a candidate, and that candidate is Hillary Clinton.  When I cast my vote for Secretary Clinton-

I will vote for EXPERIENCE – Hillary Clinton was a very involved First Lady, a very popular and productive two-term Senator from New York, and (by all accounts) one of the best Secretaries of State this nation has ever seen. No one else in the race comes close to matching her in experience.

I will vote for KNOWLEDGE and INTELLIGENCE- Hillary Clinton has time and time again demonstrated that she has in-depth knowledge of domestic and foreign affairs and a firm grasp on the state of the nation and the world. Furthermore, she has a plan on how to address the issues of the day, and a reputation for doing her homework and being prepared.

I will vote for PRAGMATISM and PERSPECTIVE – Hillary Clinton knows how to get things done – how to work with people across the board to achieve a goal.  She knows when and how to compromise, and the value of incremental change.

I will vote for TRUTH – Hillary Clinton tells the truth more often than any of the other candidates according to Politifacts, a site that provides in-depth analysis of statements made by candidates and rates them as True, Mostly True, Mostly False or False.

I will vote for COMPASSION- Hillary Clinton cares deeply about people – all the people in the nation and the world.  She has advocated for women’s rights, LGBT rights, racial equality and making health care available and affordable for everyone.

I will vote for RESILIENCE and PERSEVERANCE - Hillary Clinton has withstood vicious and unfounded attacks on her character and her performance for decades. Nonetheless, she continues to pursue her life’s work of public service for the greater good.

I will vote for CLASS – Hillary Clinton has conducted herself in a dignified manner throughout her career and this campaign which has included terribly ugly assaults on her character, her motivations, and her integrity.

I will vote for the DEMOCRAT – Hillary Clinton is a true-blue Democrat who supports her party unequivocally and has done so for her entire adult life.  She is the only Democrat running for the Democratic nomination right now.

I will vote for LOVE AND KINDNESS rather than fear and hatred.  I will vote for Hillary Clinton. 

On This Day My Child Was Born

It was February 13^th.  I was 8 ½ months pregnant and returning to work after my weekly gynecologist appointment.

My doctor said he thought I may come a little earlier than my February 28^th due date.  That was okay with me.  I had had enough of the whole pregnancy thing- the tremendous weight gain, the sharp pain in my abdomen they called “heartburn,” the inability to sit, stand or sleep comfortably.  I really did Ache All Over. I was more than ready to have my baby.

Snow was beginning to fall as I headed back to work, but I wasn’t worried.  The roads weren’t bad yet, and my workplace was just four miles from my house.  Nonetheless, I was pretty happy when I arrived at work safely, just in time for lunch.

When I stood up after lunch, I felt an unfamiliar sensation.  I realized with a shock that my water was beginning to break.  I calmly called the doctor’s office, and they advised me to return to the hospital immediately.  I wasn’t able to reach my husband, who was making deliveries for his family’s business in a time before cell phones.  I left the message with his mother that I would go home and pack my bag and he could just meet me at the house.

I let my boss and my friend and co-worker Joan know what was going on and left.  I got in the car, turned the key and…the car wouldn’t start.  I had turned the headlights on when I was on my way back to work in the snowstorm and left them on.  My car battery was dead.

Okay, so now I was beginning to panic.
  

I found Paul, my co-worker with jumper cables.  Paul felt strongly that a woman in labor should not be driving herself anywhere, especially in the snow.  He refused to jump my car.  I explained that I just planned to drive the few miles to my house, and probably wasn’t even technically in labor.  Paul didn’t care.  He offered to drive me anywhere I needed to go.  I explained to him that this was my only car, and I could not leave it there, dead, especially if I actually had the baby.  Paul was adamant.  We argued for several minutes.  I was getting desperate.  I begged.  I cajoled.  I cannot swear that I didn’t at one point grab Paul by the lapels and yell “Jump the damn car, Paul!”   Finally, Joan,  a very persuasive person, intervened and Paul grudgingly agreed to jump my car.

I drove home and packed my suitcase but hadn’t heard from my husband.  I called the doctor’s office.  “WHAT??!!!,”  the nurse said, “You mean you haven’t even LEFT yet?”  The last professional I saw get this excited was the whitewater rafting guide after I fell into the Youghigheny River.  I thought better than to mention the dead car battery.  She asked how long it would take me to get to the hospital.  About 30 minutes when it wasn’t snowing, I told her.   “Oh honey,” she said, “You need to get here RIGHT NOW!”

I called my mother-in-law to tell her that I was leaving for the hospital and to tell my husband to meet me there.  She offered to come pick me up, but after my conversation with the nurse I didn’t think I should wait. 

My mother also offered to drive me, which was very sweet but not really feasible.  My mother was terrified of driving in the snow, and lived in Swissvale, which was just about an hour away from my home in Washington, PA.  It would have taken my Mom 2 hours or more to pick me up and take me to the hospital in the snow, and I was certain that Mom would not want to drive in the snow and deliver her grandchild herself, at least not on the same day.

It was snowing a lot harder now.  When I finally arrived at the hospital, I told the doctor that aside from my water breaking and driving 30 miles in the snow, I was feeling fine.  He examined me and informed me that I was indeed having contractions and I was “officially” in labor.  Perhaps I was in shock as I drove to the hospital in the snow, and therefore numb to the contractions, or perhaps I had unknowingly been employing those breathing exercises they taught us in Lamaze class.

Meanwhile my husband had arrived back at the shop, and was so upset at the news that his parents did not trust him to drive himself to the hospital.  His family accompanied him, and his father drove.   He arrived in the birthing room about an hour after I got there, in plenty of time for the birth.

I will not share all the minute details of the labor and delivery, because I hate when women do that.  However, I will tell you that I had to have a Caesarian section because the baby was large, and my birth canal was small.  I only mention this because I want everyone to know that there is actually a body part of mine that is too small, ironically located inside my body where nobody can see it.

At 10:15 p.m. on February 13, 1985, my beautiful, brown-haired, brown-eyed baby boy was born, 8 pounds and 9 ounces despite coming 15 days early.  When they put him into my arms, I was smitten- crazy about the kid from the start.  Every bit of the pregnancy and that day had been worth it.

That baby turns 31 today.  The first word that always comes to mind when I think of him is proud.  I am so very proud of the fine man and husband he has grown up to be.   Here’s wishing my son a wonderful birthday with less troublesome weather than the day he was born.