Long time gone

I haven't posted in a long time. The election of Obama was a sad day for me. Not because I didn't want him to be elected, I passionately did. But because Mark wanted him to be elected, and Mark isn't here to celebrate with me. I've found that occasions that would have been celebrations four months ago are now somber for me. I can't celebrate without him. It's like singing "Happy Birthday" to yourself...an exercise in stupidity.

Mark and I had signed up to volunteer for Obama in June. On election day the Obama campaign requested that volunteers make phone calls, requesting people to go vote. I signed in as Mark and made 100 phone calls, then signed in as myself and made another 100 calls. I'm not sure that it made one more vote for Obama; but it felt good to continue Mark's passion for politics.

The night of the election I went to a Bob Dylan concert at the Northrup Auditorium, on campus at the University of Minnesota. The moment the concert was over a buzz went throughout letting us all know that Obama had won. When we left the auditorium we found a spontaneous group of mostly college students had formed in front, beating a drum, dancing and chanting "Yes we can" and "Obama". It was a spontaneous joyous and historic moment. I was surrounded by hundreds of people who were celebrating, but I was all alone. I stood and watched them and started to cry. I'm sure anyone who noticed thought they were tears of joy. They weren't. Of course I was happy that Obama had won. This is the type of win/loss that the whole world knows about. But the more profound losses and wins happen every day in someone's life and never hit the news. The most press that Mark got was a couple of obits with his picture in them in the local papers. It is the biggest loss of my life. Worse than when Bush stole the election from Gore. Worse than anything. And it never made the news.
That's probably why I never watch the news on TV. The really important things never are on the news. They're on the bed next to you, they're sitting next to you at the table....they're romping outside in the yard.

Today, just for today - please cut one tv show from your schedule, and spend an hour with someone you love. Play a game with them, cuddle with them, talk to them. Don't wait for Thanksgiving to show how much you value them. Do it NOW.

Natalia