Tell me, honey, will your lovin' pay my bills?

by Ripley

It sucks getting old, doesn't it?  Between the reading glasses and the slightly larger jeans, it's almost like God has a sense of humor and too much time on his hands.  ahem...

"God has a sense of humor."  What is that - blasphemy?  cynicism?  uber-jaded atheist antagonism?  I don't know.  But I can read the writing on the walls - and I see names.

Father Ripley was a tough SOB.  Grew up during the Depression, served with the Navy in the South Pacific during WW II, came back and worked his ass off to build a family and a good life.  Salt of the earth, Man's Man, jack of all trades and a good citizen.  He died at 79, from the cancer.  If it weren't for his Union (retiree) health insurance, he would have left us 2 years earlier and... we would have lost two years with him.

Mother Ripley was a tough SOB, as well.  Grew up during the Depression, worked her way through college and earned a degree in Physical Therapy (when girls were supposed to be teachers and baby sitters), moved to Colorado and worked to rehabilitate polio stricken children, moved back and gave her life to healing the wounded, then managed to raise two good daughters and an adopted Hellion.  (that's me)

A few weeks ago, Mother Ripley had a stroke.  She's 88 years old.  It wasn't a major stroke - no paralysis - but... She's at my sister's home, now.  And... I don't know what to do.  She owns her home, but she can't live there, safely.  There are some decent assisted living homes in the area, but - have you ever seen how much that costs?  To provide comfort and care for a senior?  For someone who gave everything to make his/her tiny corner of the world better?

And this is my point - it might be your point, too:  We need help.

We don't need another cowboy or a maverick or a slogan or poster.  We need - fuck my white collar buzz words, but - we need deliverables!  We need someone to give us real progress - health care, jobs, environmentally sound energy programs, senior care... real, actual help   A flag pin is not going to make my mother's final years more comfortable.  "We're number 1!" doesn't heal the sick or feed the poor.  "Victory" doesn't heal our wounded vets (unless you're fighting the Total War Against Terror on paper, in which case you should be writing for The Corner - god bless you, ya little pickpockets).

This is everything.  (No, not this post, ya gits!)  We have a chance to change our nation so that people can live with confidence, not fear; live their dreams instead of hiding their faces; stand up and demand what's right, not what's mighty.   We can help our brothers and sisters, if we try.  We can.

We can live in the America that Father Ripley showed me:  "You leave a place cleaner than you found it, and you don't cheat people."  An America that Mother Ripley showed me: "You help people who need help, because they need help and we are here to help."   McCain/Palin pretends they understand my folks and "America".  They don't, actually.  My parents did what was right, helped their neighbors, and earned their own way.  Just like the rest of us - we're not looking for a handout, we're looking for an honest government that actually helps people who need help. 

Tuesday.  That's our day, kids.  Tuesday.  I'm not an activist, generally.  I don't knock on doors and I don't cold-call people, but I hope you'll get out there and vote. We need help.  We need something better than shining cities and "you betcha's" and Dick Cheney.  We need... eh, you know what we need. 

I'll vote for Obama/Biden on Tuesday.  My parents gave everything they had to America.  I'm pretty sure it was more than McCain/Palin are willing to give. 

[Update] - My parents would never vote for the "unqualified black male!!!!"  but this is encouraging, to me.

On Monday, November 3rd DNC Chairman Howard Dean will spend the last full day of the 2008 presidential election helping to get out the vote for Democrats in John McCain's home state of Arizona. Dean will headline a Get Out the Vote Rally with local Democrats in Tucson, Arizona on the heels of Arizona being moved from "Leaning McCain" to "Toss Up" by Real Clear Politics.

I don't talk to my sisters about politics, but we're all deathbed softies.  Between you, me and my bottle of beer, I'd rather have Barack Obama or Howard Dean at the bedside than McCain or Palin.

Rip -

Comments

[Thers]

Bless your folks, Rip.

Molly I & I will be bothering people at their houses in rural northern PA on Election Day, trying to get them to the polls to do the right thing. We'll tell 'em Mother Rip sent us, brother.

[spocko]

Thanks Ripley.

[gimmeabreak]

Good stuff, Ripley. You're a good son.

[Ripley]

Molly I & I will be bothering people at their houses in rural northern PA on Election Day

Dirty fucking hippies and your dirty voting... votey stuff!

It's a pisser, watching good people struggle as they ease out of the scene. Some of them really did make the world a better place.

[poputonian]

Very nice, Ripley. Very well said. Let's toast tomorrow night to a better world.

[actor212]

Rip,

Nice post. I put up my own words of encouragement, however, that said, I don't think we have to worry about a whole lot.

But as I say in my post, I'm a Mets fan. We worry when things are going TOO well!

[Iceberg Wedge]

Thanks for that Ripley. Tomorrow can't come soon enough.

[Jemand von Niemand]

Amen to all of that. I emailed a link to this post to just about everyone I know.

Tomorrow night in San Francisco, we're still going to be glued to the television; at the dinner/poll watch I'll be at, I'll make certain a glass gets raised to your folks.

Forward.

[iamcoyote]

Yay Ripley's parents and Yay Ripley! What a great tribute to you family and everyone's families. Many hugs to you from this cynical softie.

[flory]

Great post Ripley. I understand exactly how it feels. We went thru the whole thing with my dad a decade ago.

I hope everything works out for Mother Ripley.