Vote
Caroline Lee Pope, circa 1969
photo credit: Martha Porter
I brought a set of fabulous yellow filing cabinets and a desktop that belonged to my father’s mother out to my office at school, and I spent the morning tidying and organizing in preparation for the school’s annual Open House this weekend. While I was moving files, I discovered a couple of folders left in one of the drawers. One contains letters from Granny’s sister in England and from her brother in France, written during the 1990s. The other is a file of newspaper clippings and photographs pertaining to the peace vigil my grandmother founded in Connecticut during the Vietnam war. She had one son in the Coast Guard and another organizing peace protests at Stanford, prepared to go to jail rather than participate in the violence if his draft number came up.
My parents met at the Vigil when my father came home from California; one of the newspaper articles I found this morning indicates they weren’t the only couple to connect there: “Following the Vigil, all present were invited to partake of Cold Duck brought by newly-married Mr. and Mrs. David Griggs who had met each other at the Vigil.” The vigil continues to this day on the green in Salisbury every Saturday from 11 till noon–our soldiers came home from Vietnam, but the arms race and the Cold War and countless other conflicts continued; the Gulf War and the war in Iraq rekindled interest in the Vigil. My brother and I have stood for nuclear disarmament and flashed the peace sign at passing motorists from that little triangle of grass many times during our visits.
I remember Granny as equal parts artist and activist. If I’ve inherited any of her facility with wool and needles, I hope I’ve also derived a little of her gumption and fire to stand up and organize when it matters. She’d have relished the opportunity to go to the polls at this important moment in America’s history. I’m going to be thinking of her when I drop off my own ballot. Go vote, everybody. It’s the simplest way to serve your country. And it’s a privilege.
Posted: October 30th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
You are such a lucky gal to have had such an exceptional Granny. Here-Here to your call to action. VOTE!!
Posted: October 30th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
Thank you, Sarah.
Posted: October 31st, 2008 at 12:32 am
happy voting. i have to say that the only good about ms. palin is her handknitted smokering of qiviut and in a way it is appaling that she wears it when thinking about her declared non interest in environmental issues. shouldn’t the wool have been in possesion of someone who actually cares about the environment.
best of luck on the third. we here keep fingers crossed for change.
Posted: October 31st, 2008 at 4:07 am
What a fantastic picture! And story!
Posted: October 31st, 2008 at 6:55 am
I’ll be there bright and early on Tuesday morning voting my little heart out (though gratefully not voting in the Shaheen/Sununu contest in NH). I have always felt that Election Day should be a Federal holiday, an indication that people should remember and honor their civic spirit.
Posted: October 31st, 2008 at 3:01 pm
I must be emotional today, because I’m crying. Your Granny sounds like an amazing woman, and I’m glad you had such an example. I’m working at the polls on November 4th, and they are expecting 90% turnout! 90%! I never heard of such a thing. I’m so excited to see people turn out like that for democracy.
Posted: November 1st, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Thank you for this post.
Your description of your Granny reminds me an awful lot of my own Grandma, which is to say, she sounds like an amazing woman.
Posted: November 3rd, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Here! Here!!
Posted: November 3rd, 2008 at 3:59 pm
What a wonderful post, Sarah!