Mrs. Evelyn Jackson from Missouri!

I was off today, and after voting, all my errands and a few appointments, I was home by 1:00pm. I checked my email and had gotten several from Obama Headquarters to come down and volunteer, I just didn't have it in me today, so I checked, "sorry can't make it" on the box, and then was re-directed to the Obama site asking if I could make calls from home.

I talked this morning to a dear friend, and she said that she had made a bunch of MO calls and so I thought why not. I clicked yes, got out my cell phone and started calling people one at a time. I got a lot of answering machines, I reminded these people to get out and vote, gave them the address of their polling place, and a phone number to call if they needed to call.

The first interesting call was "Jerry" a 21 year old guy, sounded African American, but I don't know that at all. He said he was worried he "wouldn't" be able to vote because he had a new ID and he had never voted before. He was worried he wouldn't be able to get to the poles. I gave him a number to call that would direct him to his local office, and told him that here where I live in MT, we had volunteers taking people that needed a ride to the poles. I told him to take some bills with his name on them, or anything that would back up and just go. He said he would. He sounded grateful I called, I was thrilled to talk to him. He said he "needed" to vote this time, and I told him, "yes, you do, just go."

After many more calls, I reached Evelyn Jackson in MO.

She was 73 and told me that she had already voted.

I'm not sure how it happened, but we started talking. She again sounded African American, with a deep southern accent.

She told me that she walked to the polling place this morning, and that she was so worn out afterwards that she had to go back to bed. She thanked me over and over for making calls. She told me she had herself been a campaigner for Kennedy, for Carter, For Clinton, Gore and Kerry.

She told me how everyone she knew was voting for McCain and that she couldn't understand it because they were poor like they were in Mississippi and Alabama.

She told me about the furniture factory that had been shipped down to Mexico, and how many jobs had been lost. She told me that most of the people with money in her community had gotten it selling drugs, because that's what people do when they are really "poor."

She told me of her grand babies, and how her husband had died, and how she was going to cook Thanksgiving dinner for the people in her building but that she wasn't telling everybody because they were not as "clean" as she liked and she didn't want to eat their food. This was said in a way that was so wonderful and accepting, that she knew they couldn't cook for themselves and she was going to do it for them.

She told me how her great great nephew had just had a son, and how that baby had a bad lung disease, but that he was doing really good. I told her of Little Miss and her first year on oxygen and how now she is strong and healthy. She laughed and told me we were "so blessed". I felt blessed to be talking to her.

So, when I finally hung up, with Miss Evelyn, I called it a day. I figured that after about 100 phone calls that was enough, my cell phone was dead, and I wanted to end my stint as a phone banker on a wonderful note.

So, hopefully there are millions of Evelyn's out there tonight, who have hobbled to the polling place and will be enjoying the fruits of their labor tonight.

I feel humbled to have talked to her, humbled and blessed.

Peace,

OC