Elser Family Blog

Another Veterans Day in little NA. It was a nice crowd this time. still no young people though. (Other than the 5th grade kids from North Augusta Elementary, and The Jr ROTC from the high school.) I have to say, one of the memorable events was the kids from the elementary school reciting “In Flanders fields“, because 50% of these public school kids had it memorized. I was impressed. Usually the kids come up and mumble it while staring at the card in front of them. Not this time. Good for you kids. Also, they had the street blocked off so the JrROTC could perform. they had a rifle corps and a marching corps. They did a fine job also. (cant see them in the picture.. they were standing behind me.
Here is to our veterans and their families. All gave some, some gave all. thank you for that sacrifice.

I have updated my links to the right.. boy, a lot of them had “expired” or changed in some way. They should all work now though!

I’m so happy that my candidate won. I woke up this morning with a wonderful attitude. We really do live in a great country, don’t we? The people are allowed to, and actually do, choose to right wrongs. We are responsible, and we have the responsibility to chose people who we think will make the country a better place.

This picture just moves me. I love how Rockwell is straining to see what the fuss is about. The kids were interested and involved. I’m glad they can grow up at this point in time. It ‘aint gonna be easy, but the wind is in the right direction.

Here is a post by someone else.. I wish I could take credit for it.

I Didn’t Vote For Obama Today
November 4, 2008, 9:37AM

I have a confession to make.

I did not vote for Barack Obama today.

I’ve openly supported Obama since March. But I didn’t vote for him today.

I wanted to vote for Ronald Woods. He was my algebra teacher at Clark Junior High in East St. Louis, IL. He died 15 years ago when his truck skidded head-first into a utility pole. He spent many a day teaching us many things besides the Pythagorean Theorem. He taught us about Medgar Evers, Ralph Abernathy, John Lewis and many other civil rights figures who get lost in the shadow cast by Martin Luther King, Jr.

But I didn’t vote for Mr. Woods.

I wanted to vote for Willie Mae Cross. She owned and operated Crossroads Preparatory Academy for almost 30 years, educating and empowering thousands of kids before her death in 2003. I was her first student. She gave me my first job, teaching chess and math concepts to kids in grades K-4 in her summer program. She was always there for advice, cheer and consolation. Ms. Cross, in her own way, taught me more about walking in faith than anyone else I ever knew.

But I didn’t vote for Ms. Cross.

I wanted to vote for Arthur Mells Jackson, Sr. and Jr. Jackson Senior was a Latin professor. He has a gifted school named for him in my hometown. Jackson Junior was the pre-eminent physician in my hometown for over 30 years. He has a heliport named for him at a hospital in my hometown. They were my great-grandfather and great-uncle, respectively.

But I didn’t vote for Prof. Jackson or Dr. Jackson.

I wanted to vote for A.B. Palmer. She was a leading civil rights figure in Shreveport, Louisiana, where my mother grew up and where I still have dozens of family members. She was a strong-willed woman who earned the grudging respect of the town’s leaders because she never, ever backed down from anyone and always gave better than she got. She lived to the ripe old age of 99, and has a community center named for her in Shreveport.

But I didn’t vote for Mrs. Palmer.

I wanted to vote for these people, who did not live to see a day where a Black man would appear on their ballots on a crisp November morning.

In the end, though, I realized that I could not vote for them any more than I could vote for Obama himself.

So who did I vote for?

No one.

I didn’t vote. Not for President, anyway.

Oh, I went to the voting booth. I signed, was given my stub, and was walked over to a voting machine. I cast votes for statewide races and a state referendum on water and sewer improvements.

I stood there, and I thought about all of these people, who influenced my life so greatly. But I didn’t vote for who would be the 44th President of the United States.

When my ballot was complete, except for the top line, I finally decided who I was going to vote for – and then decided to let him vote for me. I reached down, picked him up, and told him to find Obama’s name on the screen and touch it.

And so it came to pass that Alexander Reed, age 5, read the voting screen, found the right candidate, touched his name, and actually cast a vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

Oh, the vote will be recorded as mine. But I didn’t cast it.

Then again, the person who actually pressed the Obama box and the red “vote” button was the person I was really voting for all along.

It made the months of donating, phonebanking, canvassing, door hanger distributing, sign posting, blogging, arguing and persuading so much sweeter.

So, no, I didn’t vote for Barack Obama. I voted for a boy who now has every reason to believe he, too, can grow up to be anything he wants…even President.