Suburban Milestones

I met a neighbor in town yesterday who during the course of pleasantries mentioned how busy she was getting ready for a big fund raising event for our children's school. "I'm putting the kind of energy into this that I put into my career...when I was working. It just feels so important to be doing this for our children. I'm exhausted but it happy to be doing it."

She then added, "well, you know what that feels like, right? You know, with all your work for Obama."

Beyond its affirmation, her comment reminded me that despite the wide gulf between our politics, she and I were connected. Somehow, the disagreements we'd had before the election dissipated and I could see that we were the more similar than I would have guessed, or maybe admitted.

Passionate, energetic women driven to reach out beyond ourselves.

We are fueled by excess professional energy, or maybe just a need to think thoughts beyond the peanut butter sandwich and the laundry.

Whatever drives us, we are left with a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment, however hackneyed, that we have fed and watered our children with just a little extra something that will surely help them flourish.
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It's that fundamental belief — I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper — that makes this country work. It's what allows us to pursue our individual dreams, yet still come together as a single American family. "E pluribus unum." Out of many, one.
Barack Obama, Democratic National Convention, 2004