*This is a letter to myself. I need a venue to just release my experience of the last month. I promise I'll curtail the political rhetoric to the best of my abilities in the future but for today just sit back and listen*
The emotional roller coaster I've been on the last few weeks has been a crazy one, but I would do this again 100 times over. It was absolutely amazing to be apart of the team. I'm sure my experiences were like so many others in field, but the people and the volunteers I worked with were the greatest and the most frustrating all at the same time. Honestly, one of the greatest moments of my life was being on the staff call with POTUS today, after winning the election. E-day was just so surreal, I couldn't believe that it was really happening and we won. I spent the evening just thinking "is this really happening, no, they're still going to throw something at us." The win, hours of work, the emotional highs and lows of constituent contact, the massive disruption in my life plans and my utter exhaustion, none of it had sunken in. Not until that call when POTUS came on to thank the team. That's when it hit me. When he got chocked up about how honored he is to lead us, I just lost it. I started sobbing. I beyond proud to represent him, and beyond honored to have him say so many amazing things about our team. The weight of the last 5 months of stress just completely bottomed out from under me and I just melted. As I was driving to get some coffee and go break down the office, listening to that call and sobbing I spot one of our local characters Dwayne.
Dwayne spent a good seven hours of election day in front of our office with his boom box and an Obama sign dancing, inviting people in and encouraging the random passerby to vote. As I was utterly overwhelmed with emotion I pulled up to a stop sign and who do I see across the street? It's Dwayne still with his boom box still dancing a day later, screaming "Obama! Obama! Obama!" I had to park the car and give him a hug and just thank him. He and the rest of these hard working people make this so worth it. He will probably never leave Steubenville, he'll never graduate college nor will he have the financial security that so many of us have grown accustomed to. But our president has made his life better. Duane has healthcare coverage for the first time in decades. His foodstamps are still there when life is especially hard. His utter enthusiasm for our President and the good work we've done and will continue to do, brings a smile to my face. He is why I did this. I'll never forget Dwayne dancing in the streets for President Obama in Steubenville, OH. Never.
