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Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Life A Conversation With My Mum

Posted by Dominic Holden on Wed, Nov 5, 2008 at 2:25 PM

It was 8:56 p.m. last night and my mom wouldn’t turn on the television.

She was born in Australia in 1938. Despite living here longer than she lived there, she never really became an American, by citizenship or culture. She brews tea three times a day, steeps it in a knitted tea cozy, and sips it boiling hot with a bickee. She doesn’t know what R & B stands for. American politics freak her out. But after Bush’s re-election, my mom switched her citizenship—so she could vote for a different kind of president. Here she is, caucusing for Obama in February:

“Hello?” she answered the phone last night.

“He-ey, mum. Have you been watching the election results?”

“No,” she said. She hadn't answered a call a few minutes before, either. “I was afraid John McCain,” her voice froze, “had won.”

“Obama’s winning, mum. He’s going to win.”

“Oh, praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God,” she said. “Now we praise God that someone doesn’t shoot him.”

She’s always been a worrier. But then again, she's not the only one worrying about that sort of thing.

Comments (11) RSS

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That's the #1 question you'll get if you travel in Europe right now (just did): "how long do you think he'll make it to Inauguration"? Sad, but not surprising.

Posted by uncle baggy on November 5, 2008 at 2:36 PM

minus "how long"

Posted by uncle baggy on November 5, 2008 at 2:37 PM

My mom was born in Austria in 1937, watched her little sister die in an Allied bombing of Innsbruck during WW2, and since getting her US citizenship in '87, has been confused by American politics to the point of always just voting party-line Republican. Yesterday, she voted for Obama in Ohio and called me to tell me, full of pride. Moms are awesome.

Posted by tania on November 5, 2008 at 2:39 PM

people, people: he's going to make it to the end of his 2nd term. maybe you didn't know, but he's actually NOT a socialist or a muslim. friggin' unclench.

Posted by max solomon on November 5, 2008 at 2:41 PM

That article made me sad because it said he wouldn't be out with the people anymore. It's good since it protects him, and we need him so very much. I shook his hand at a rally 2 years ago, and although I'm sure he doesn't remember me, I have felt like I know him personally since that moment. Americans need those moments with him to stay energized. But I'd rather he stays safe.

Posted by sepiolida on November 5, 2008 at 2:42 PM

Google says: No definitions were found for bickee.

Posted by SeattleBrad on November 5, 2008 at 3:16 PM

Bickee = biscuit = cookie.

Posted by cat on November 5, 2008 at 3:42 PM

I did not notice the bullet proof glass so I worried for nothing that someone might take a shot at him. BTW, I don't remember any serious attempts at an assassination of the President since Ronald Reagan. I think security is a lot better than it used to be.

Posted by elswinger on November 5, 2008 at 3:49 PM

Obama will be ok. For perspective, Martin Luther King Jr. lived and worked under far more dangerous conditions and with far less security. King survived thirteen years (1955 to 1968) of explosively confrontational activism before his death.

Posted by Mrs. Jarvie on November 5, 2008 at 4:03 PM

Hey Dominic, since Australia changed the Citizenship Act a few years ago its now possible to be a dual Australian/U.S. Citizen. I believe that people who surrendered their citizenship prior to the change can petition to get it back.

I'm a ex-Sydney boy who took U.S. Citizenship (dual citizen) to make sure that my man and I won't be separated by the cruelty of U.S. immigration policy and so I could vote for Barack Obama in this election.

And after all the anti-gay propositions, amendments and measures that passed I drank a lot of hot tea with bickies today myself.

Posted by The Gay Curmudgeon on November 5, 2008 at 5:27 PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Presidential_assassination_attempts#Bill_Clinton

Posted by CP on November 6, 2008 at 9:25 PM