This made me laugh. And cry. In fact, I started crying uncontrollably. All the emotion I had folded up and pushed aside--to make room for more rational thought on issues and policy (as well as for the stressful mechanics of finding time to volunteer)--came unraveled all at once.
But I was also crying because, as I told her, my grandma is a pretty neat lady.
I, having been born after the civil rights movement, and my grandma, who long ago decided she was set in her ways and nothing could change that, have not always...how can I put this?...shared the same sensibilities about race.
It can be hard to eat your words, especially if you're as stubborn as my grandmother. (I'm not very good at it. Ask my family.) But my grandma did it. She voted for the black man. And she shared the news with grace and humor. Like I said, she's a pretty neat lady.
Change is hard. But it is possible.
