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My Brush with Greatness
In the summer of 72 I
had just turned 11. My family, Dad, Mom and 6 brothers and
sisters were visiting Grammy in Stroudsburg, PA. I'm number 6 in the
Catholic brood.
I didn't have a clue about politics at
the time so when the 9 of us crowded into the
station wagon to drive over to Scranton for some political rally it
didn't mean anything
to me except a fun ride in the car playing games, enjoying the rolling
countryside and
being a pain to my older siblings.
As far as I knew my parents had always supported the Democrats. Loved
JFK, Johnson,
Humphrey etc. The rally we went to was George McGovern for President.
It was a huge
crowd but only being 11, fast and slippery I could make my way easily
through the crowd
to whatever vantage point I desired.
To the very front for a time within
reach of secret service suits until I got bored and
went around behind the stage to run in the park with my sister. That is
until there was
a huge commotion, a loud uproar of cheering accompanied by a stampede
of people
rushing around to the back of the stage.
I ducked under and in between the
people to get to the edge of the gauntlet that had
formed behind the stage to see what the fuss was about. Stuck my hand
out as everyone
else was just as George McGovern
was making his way through. He turned toward me
and paused for a second somewhat taken aback at my eagerness and youth,
grabbed
my hand gave it a shake, smiled broadly and moved on.
The next year Roe v Wade went through the court, Mom and Dad never
supported
another Democrat after that, preferring the anti-abortion pandering of
theocratic fascists.
Pat M.