Sixteen years ago tonight, I was in California, watching the unfolding New Years’ celebrations across Asia and Europe and then the United States, as the dawn of the new millennium spread around the world. I did this with my Dad.
After a family celebration, the two of us stayed up late into the evening. He, an avid amateur astronomer, spent most of the night fiddling with his star charts, configuring the best available viewings for the dark skies of January 1 — what we would watch the next night through his telescope. I was mostly watching TV. We toasted each new year as each new time zone rang in.
I had no way of knowing that that would be the last night we would ever spend together. After a special New Year observing Saturn on a cold, clear California night, I flew home to D.C. Three weeks later, my Dad died very suddenly, in the time it took him to switch on a light, of an aneurysm.
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His death scalded me. But in some ways, I remain grateful that he died before having to observe the wreckage made of the country he loved and served as a pilot and intelligence officer in the United States Navy by the Administration judicially ushered into office 12 months after his death.
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Of this, though, I think he would have been proud.
I have been a member of this community for 10 years (in September). I am writing this tonight in gratitude for the many, many other members of this community who have empowered me: you are too many to name.
It is here that I learned that every voice makes a difference. It is here that I learned how to make my voice count.
This is the place that encouraged me to go work on a campaign for the first time — even if, then, it was only stuffing envelopes and delivering them to the post office. (Note: I took Madison the German Shepherd with me to pick up the bins of envelopes; she may have been the first Daily Kos doggie to participate in a campaign, but I could be wrong.)
This is the place where other people’s experience with phone banking (told through diaries) convinced me that I could do this, too. I am shy and I am not a phone person. But I went to headquarters and listened to the instructions and wiped my sweaty palms and gulped and dialed. And then I did it about another 500 times.
This is the place where I first read about canvassing. I read about how to do it here and then I went to a local campaign headquarters and signed up and showed up and tried it. And then I went back, again and again and again.
In short: This is the place where I learned not to be afraid.
I am so grateful to be here tonight, early on this first day of 2016.
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We have SO MUCH WORK TO DO, but I am so CONFIDENT that WE CAN DO IT. We have great candidates running for the Presidency (any of whom I will wear out shoe leather canvassing for) and great candidates running for the Senate and House.
Here is my New Year’s Wish: Let’s work together, every day, to make 2016 a banner year for Democrats and for our country.
Together, we can do ANYTHING.
Thank you, Daily Kos.