In my family, we have a running joke about voting that came from my dad, who always told other family members how he was planning to vote and then said "Don't vote against me!" (jokingly - I think). He always told my mom in particular not to vote opposite of however he said he was planning to vote; "We'll just cancel each other out if you do!" he quipped before every election. (I'm pretty sure Mom still voted her own way anyway!)
I remember the first time I was going to vote after I'd turned 18; Dad, of course, sent me off to the polls with an encouraging pat on the back and a "Don't vote against me!" directive. I think he was glad when first I and later both of my younger sisters were finally old enough to vote because he thought it upped his odds for having one person in the family vote his way, as he put it.
This week, his words came back to me - in fact, they popped right out of my mouth - as my 18 year-old daughter and I stepped away from our respective voting machines after we'd voted in the state primary election. I got several glares from the poll workers (or whatever they're called) and others in the vicinity; I guess they thought I was seriously trying to influence her vote. She recognized the source of the quote right away; she'd heard me tell about how my dad used to say those very words every time before an election, and we got a good laugh out of the whole thing.
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| Gramps would be SO PROUD! |
There really is always something there to remind me, and for that I am so very grateful.
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