Letter to a Democrat friend, January 2, 2001

It's amazing what turns up in old e-mails. Sometimes I can't get them to open. But the one I'm using for this "memory" was copied to a Word Document. If you remember the millennium scare when the experts thought all computers would fail because no one had programmed them to turn over to 2000, you'll understand why I sometimes don't know what year these were sent unless there are events to which I can connect. The computers continued to work, but didn't record the dates!

About this letter/e-mail. This reply was written January 2, 2001, I know because I mentioned the death of my mom (January 2000) and the December visit of my father. Also we discussed the election of George W. Bush. I was answering a note from a friend I hadn't seen for a long time who was about 30 years younger and had been in our small group from church.  From the context it had been about 5 years since we'd been together. We were both Democrats, although I had voted for Bush in November 2000 because of the abortion issue. I remember we went to her wedding a few years before; I heard years later that they were divorced. She apparently had said something in her letter, which I don't have,  that triggered these comments from me--still a registered Democrat, but ready to leave the party. In the letter below, if something is in parentheses, it's in the original, but something in brackets means I added it today to clarify. Also, I've changed personal names to letters.  Also, one more thing.  When I told my husband about finding this e-mail, he had no recollection of Barbara or our attending her wedding.

Dear Barbara,

It was good to get your e-mail of December 5 and find out what is going on in your lives. I'm happy you've found a believers' church. The Mill Run church opened a year ago [New Year's Eve 2000], but we still attend Lytham. [Comments followed about her deciding not to have children--she was adopted, and her adoptive parents had divorced--I think it was not a happy family.]

You may recall that I am also a registered Democrat--even voted for Clinton/Gore in 1992--mainly because Gore was on the ticket. Notice in my x-mas letter I didn't say which party was stealing the election, but you seemed to know--hmmm.) But I've voted Republican in the last 2 elections [1996, 2000] because they more closely represent what I think is important--human lives, not human lifestyle. I believe abortion is the defining issue of our time as was slavery 150 years ago. Each era has its problems it needs to solve. The difference is 150 years ago Christians (particularly women) were in the forefront trying to reverse a terrible crime against humanity, now women are the great perpetrators. The church just falls in line and tries to pretend it will go away if no one speaks out. The ethical standards of Christians seem to be no different than the rest of society.

The other day on the Rush Limbaugh program I heard a Republican woman complaining about "one issue" Republicans (she was pro-choice), and Rush said he didn't think there was such a thing, but where else could a pro-life person like me go? Four years of a Republican president might save many lives--maybe more if he gets the right people on the Supreme Court and partial birth abortion goes back to the slime pits where it belongs.

Bush has said he is against partial birth abortion and we hope he follows through. Where else could your vote save lives? That Clinton and Gore are Christians (and I believe they are) meant nothing once in office. Gore used to be pro-life (and he seemed to be capable of telling the truth before he became vice president) and he flip flopped for political power--maybe Bush will do the same, but for now I think he sees that wing of the party--those one-issue folks--still has some clout. In just the year 2000, we got partial birth abortion, research on human embryos and the abortion drug RU-486. So there is definitely a slippery slope and it's getting steeper. I think "death" is Clinton's legacy that he's been looking for--more deaths than a major war. Assisted suicide and euthanasia are coming down the pike, and if the Christians' stand on abortion is any indication, it is the gateway to new ways to "make choices."

You said you were thinking of leaving the country if Bush was elected. I don't remember Republicans threatening to leave if Clinton won in 1992 but perhaps they did (some Perot supporters may have in the next election), and Bush got a higher percentage of the popular vote than Clinton ever did. Democrats had the power for 40 years in the legislature, and I think the Republicans stuck it out. If you believe the Democrats are right about the Microsoft suit and it was necessary to hamstring our technology growth, and they were right to strangle our power sources so we have rolling brown-outs and gasoline shortages, and they were right to weaken U.S. by diminishing and demoralizing the military, then you should stick around and fight for your principles. Then maybe in 4 years you can have it all back--but in the meanwhile, if there are layoffs in technology or gasoline shortages, or power outages, remember those were your guys.

Our group keeps on going--like the energizer bunny--but sometimes I think we are the halt and the lame. But it keeps us on our knees! We have 14, 2 widows and 6 couples. X and Y still struggle but they come. Y suffers from a mental illness but is on medication. S continues to have small strokes--her daughter got married this past year. We thought perhaps J had Alzheimer's, but he had brain surgery to relieve some kind of pressure and is now OK. We took in a new couple about 3 years ago, and another new couple this year. N and D, our graduates, still come to special events. J and L and G and P moved out of town. N's dad died in the fall at 104--he was also X's grandfather.

We had a wonderful visit with my 87 y/o Dad in early December. I miss Mom, but have really enjoyed getting to know him better this past year. She was so easy to love and we all enjoyed her wisdom, counsel and love. He's a bit more difficult, but I've been so impressed with his bravery this past year.

I'll close now, and wait to hear from you in five years. I'll send you my family's story [not sure what I was referring to] in snail mail. Hope this doesn't clog your mailbox!

Norma