A vintage voter

Suffragette Genevieve Clark, circa 1914

You know a lot of the things I love: feedsack fabric, Jadeite plates and Shiny Brite ornaments.

You may not know this: I love voting more than I love any of those. By a lot.

Voting makes me lightheaded. Happy. Almost giddy.

My great-grandmother, who was born before women had the right to vote, adored FDR. Without him, she believed, she would not have had a roof over her head. She worked as a Democratic poll watcher every year by way of thanks.

My father, a lifelong Republican, ran for a local office when I was young. He had a pretty slick get-out-the-vote operation. It consisted of driving from house to house every evening in our used Chevrolet, my brother and I in the back seat. He handed out business cards with his name and the words HONEST and RELIABLE. In his case, it happened to be true. He lost his first election, and I cried. He won every one after that.

My parents took us with them when they voted. They believed it was as important to vote for town supervisor and state representative as it was for president. Afterward, we went to the Civic League for the Election Day supper. We sat with neighbors and ate homemade soup and bread and cake.

Nobody had to say what a great country we lived in. Nobody had to say how great it was to be an American. We knew that, especially on Election Day. Those suppers felt more patriotic than Fourth of July fireworks, as celebratory as Thanksgiving.

I love a lot of the things I grew up with - farmhouses, gardens, livestock and pets; aprons, quilts and Pyrex bowls. I grew up in a family that valued voting, in a country where my vote counts, and I love that, too. And today's the day I celebrate that.

 

 

Comments

[laurie magpie ethel]

Great post. Dropping off my mail in ballot this morning since I missed the last date to mail it in.
Honest and reliable..those were the good old days.

[Sheryl Remy]

I'm with you on this issue. Voting is important and I strongly feel it is even more important to vote if you are a woman.
Sheryl

[Melissa]

Great post! I'm heading to the polls later today!

[Beth Leintz]

Great All American feel good post!

[Whit]

That's beautiful! Your story is so charming.

Makes me even more depressed that our state switched to mail-in ballot only voting. What's up with that, eh? I'll never get to take my daughter to the polling places like my folks used to take me.

Here's your scary thought for the day...i had this dream last night, well, nightmare really, that i was an elderly woman and my daughter called me to tell me "How Dope It Was" that we could all vote from our smartphones with the latest app. Ick, can you imagine? Oh, and the scary part was the voting by smartphone, not that "dope" was again trendy slang. (you know how the old becomes new again--with all things except technology. BAH!)

Happy Election Day! Regardless of who we've all voted for, it's surely going to be a nail biter tonight. My daughter's got her Electoral College Map and colour pencils ready. (:

[Into Vintage]

I wholeheartedly agree! I am never more proud of the country where I live than when I am voting. I also can't help but think about the fact that there was a time when women could not vote and thanks to many of them, now we can.

[Carol @ Old Glory Cottage]

I love that you love to vote as much as I love to vote! Today makes me crazy-patriotic!

[Renee]

Do you think I will get any sleep tonight? Happily voted first thing this morning...Smiles..Renee

[Kathy]

Well said! Any time someone voices a political position that I disagree with I always say how lucky are we to live in a country where we all have the freedom to voice our opinions. We are lucky indeed and it is true that freedom is not free.

[Mitzi Curi]

Thanks for a great post! I was at the polls at 7:10 a.m., and from there I went to get a mammogram. Boy, did I feel good about myself yesterday!

[Lena]

My granny felt very much the same about FDR. She said she didn't think they would have survived without him. Until he started to send trucks of food to communities, they sometimes ate peanuts 3 times a day. My other grandma and all of her sisters lived through the Depression in the South, and were lifelong Demoncrats. Those times, I guess they informed their political decisions for the rest of their lives. I applaud your famiy for being involved in our democracy. Democracy. It depends on everyone voting, regardless of party. I wea so happy to see so many show up.

[jennifer]

i always dress up when i go to vote. and i hardly EVER dress up. it just feels important to me, and always makes me feel weirdly teary afterward....