The Obama rally

My friend Heather. We drove to the fairgrounds together, loaded down with kids, carseats, strollers and of course, plenty of snacks!



Kai and Isabelle-They were sooo good! Kai wasn't such a huge fan of all the yelling, which was so ironic considering the kid lives to yell in the house! We were really proud of both of them!


High points of the event:

• I have never been around so many Democrats in Indiana in my entire time living here, that alone was pretty incredible. Sometimes, I fear opening my mouth when it comes to politics. I can usually assume I will be outnumbered.

• The African American woman and her Caucasian mother in law sitting behind us. During the wait in the stands these two women played, “I got your nose!” with Isabelle and Kai in between the constant snacking on whatever Heather and I could give them to keep the pair happy and quiet. They both cried as the flashing lights of the motorcycles leading the motorcade for Barrack Obama drove into the fairgrounds. “I didn’t expect to get so emotional,” she laughed as we all cheered and screamed.

• The wonderful cross section of people we saw, parents with young children in strollers, elderly men and women in wheel chairs, African Americans, and Asians. I have never attended any political event and I found it so inspiring to see everyone making their way out in the middle of the day on a workday to hear Obama speak.
Having Kai there with me, I don’t know, there was something about exposing him to all that is possible here in the United States. I wanted to say to him. “This is how we do it here. You have a say. That could be you someday. What you do in this life does make a difference.”

I couldn’t help but think that just a little over a year ago, Kai had rarely stepped out of the orphanage doors in China, and now here we were together at an Obama rally in the United States. Interestingly enough, that is just what Barrack Obama said after a protester raised a bit of a ruckus. At the beginning of his speech someone in the crowd yelled something and it created a loud stir in the section nearby. Obama stopped his speech, held up his hand and said, “Ok, now, what do we have going on up there?” in his classic, calm voice. With the question addressed and Barrack standing there, looking up, ready to address the protester, the commotion stopped. “That is the beauty of a democracy,” he said, “Everyone is allowed an opinion.” Then he shifted his weight and said, “Ok, now where was I?” Which was greeted with relieved laughter.

On our way out of the stadium, after the speech ended, Heather strapped Oliver into the baby bijorn . He grinned and kicked his legs happily. She held Kai’s hand as we weaved through the parking lot. Isabelle, now losing steam, wanted me to hold her. I gladly placed her on my hip and she gratefully snuggled her face into my neck. I couldn’t help but think, we are all in this together, all of our children, everyone’s family, no matter who wins the election next month.
As soon as we had them all strapped into the car Isabelle started asking for more food. “Honey, we’re all out of snacks.” No snacks, no problem, we’d heard Barrack speak, and it was time to go home.



If you look closely, you will see him standing at the podium.