An email from dad.

Hey all.  So with the polls officially opening 40 days from now, I have been thinking quite a bit about this election.  Regardless of your candidate, I think we are all feeling some stress.  It's a tight race and most of us have picked "our guy."  I know that when I start thinking about this stuff, I immediately feel super overwhelmed.  How can I help?  What's the best thing I can do for my candidate?  I think we're all feeling that, no matter our views.  Sometimes these feelings of overwhelming'ness turn into "I'm going to tear the opposite side apart!" on Facebook.  I want to stray from that as much as I can.

A while back, I wrote a post on my blog about how much I respected someone I was friends on Facebook with (who I've known for a long time) for her views, even though they were quite different from mine.  They were always Pro-Obama.  I was cool with that.  We all have our own personal beliefs and that's what makes life beautiful.  In the past month or so, I have become so frustrated with the things I've seen from her.  It's been a constant beat down on Mitt.  It's really unfortunate to me how these elections bring out the ugly side of people.  I am all about someone expressing their opinion, and even sometimes, frustration.  However, when tearing other people and their beliefs down, becomes a pattern, it really begins to bug me.  

I want this post to be nothing more than me putting out a positive plug for Mitt.  I have nothing rude or demeaning to say about Barack.  Not on here anyway.  It's not the place and it does no good for either side.  I know that many of you who are reading this already have a candidate in mind (most of us do).  However, I hope that regardless of who you are voting for, that you'll read this as it was a very unique opportunity that my parents had.  

This is a direct copy/paste email from my dad who told about their opportunity to meet with Matt Romney in our own home in Ohio... 

Everyone:

I have been asked by several of you to make sure I gave you a report on my unusual experience with Matt Romney this morning.  For those of you who are Adecco folks, this is a political email, so please delete now if you aren’t comfortable reading about political things (I’m a Republican) since I know you from work.  Also, since I’m really not entirely sure who might want to hear about this, please feel free to forward this to whomever you think might be interested.

Three, Two, One . . . .

Well, if you are still reading, you are either work folks who don’t mind, or friends and family who would like to hear about Matt Romney coming to our home for breakfast this morning!  We received a call last week asking Karen and I to host a breakfast meeting for Matt Romney in our home today.  Since it is a swing state, the Romney campaign is hitting Ohio pretty hard over the next three days, and this was the first stop for Mitt’s son Matt.  Karen did a great job making calls and arranging things so that we had about 100 people at our home this morning.  

Matt Romney showed up at our home this morning at 9:30 a.m. and the first thing he asks me when he gets out of the car is whether I know Mike and Alison Eckel?!  (He also knew the names of all of the kids).  For those of you who don’t know, Mike is my little brother and Alison is my sister in law!  Matt lives in San Diego and he and his wife are good friends with Mike and Alison.  It is weird neither of us knew that, but he said when he saw me he thought I looked familiar and wondered if there might be a connection (I guess Mike and Alison don’t talk about their Ohio family very often! J )  Incidentally, Matt was totally down to earth – and truly seemed like the kind of guy you could just hang out with – pretty low key, but you could see he was really sharp.

Here is what Matt said about his Dad:

He said that his grandfather (Mitt’s Dad) really instilled a love for America in his children.  His grandfather was from Mexico, and really understood what a different and special country this is.  His Dad’s family vacationed across the county and saw a lot of the national parks, discussed the history of this great land, talked about the responsibilities we all have as American’s, etc.  He said his Dad is extremely patriotic and is really doing this because of his belief that those who have been blessed have a responsibility to make / keep this country great.  Matt said that after the run in 2008, he and a couple of his brothers weren’t very enthusiastic about his Dad running again.  Frankly, for their own family it would be a lot more advantageous not to subject themselves to this abuse and they had pretty decent lives before all of this – why should they do it?!  He explained that both his Mom and Dad feel strongly that they owe it to the country.  Mitt is a natural leader and has been able to fix things and turn things around time after time after time.  If the country ever needed someone with his skill set, it was now.  So, they all agreed that they needed to do what needed to be done – not for themselves, but for the good of this country that they all love.

He also discussed that his Dad has lived his whole life giving service.  Most of that service has been completely out of the limelight and his Dad isn’t the kind of guy who runs around telling everyone about all the great things he has done and the people he has helped.  He told a story about how his Dad had a couple of people at church that he had been asked to visit every month and make sure they are taken care of.  He said that his Dad went to see the families for over 10 years without missing a single month.  When Matt was a little older, his Dad would take him with him each month and they went for about 4 years every single month to visit these families.  He was amazed at how much his Dad did for both the temporal and spiritual welfare for those families.  One of them was a single mother and her kids and they had a lot of issues over the years, and his Dad was always there to take care of them.  Never in the limelight, but he was consistently there, month after month, year after year for those who needed his help.

He also said that it was really odd to think that your own Dad could actually be the President of the United States.  He said as crazy as that sounds when he thinks of him as his Dad, as he looks at his father as a leader, he can’t believe how prepared he is to lead this country at this time.  His combination of private, public, non-profit, and even community service leadership and experience has made him uniquely qualified to serve.  He said that he has been in a great position to see all the things that his Dad has done not only over the years, but also during this campaign.  Apparently, Mitt has been preparing a transition team, is already working with members of Congress, etc. so that he will be ready to go on day one if he is elected President.  That is what a great leader would be doing (focusing on more than just the present, but always having an eye to the future and being prepared –  so that is what he is doing).  Funny, it takes critical time away from campaigning (focusing on himself), and focuses on what is ultimately most important – taking care of the country (and focusing on what is most beneficial to all the rest of us).  Again, selfless service and an ability to lead is so evident in Mitt Romney.

He discussed some of the polling and what a difficult position President Obama is in for an incumbent.  He asked us all to get out and talk to our friends, and especially to get people to get out and vote.  

Interestingly, one thing he DIDN’T focus on was fundraising!  He didn’t twist our arms at all.  I think he did say the word “donate” once when he was going through a laundry list of things that we could do in response to a question from someone in the crowd.  He said we could volunteer, talk to your friends and neighbors, donate, put a sign in your yard, make sure people are registered to vote, etc.  There was no focus or even a second mention of donating that I heard.  (Frankly, I pretty much expect that when I go to this sort of thing – so it was an interesting surprise!).  His main request was to please talk to our friends and neighbors and make sure we do what we can to help get out the vote.

I think that is about it.  We snapped a photo with Matt and sent him on his way to the next event.  He is going to get us VIP seats at a rally for Mitt and Paul Ryan in Toledo on Wednesday evening, so that will be another cool opportunity in just a couple of days!

I hope you enjoyed it.  I think that regardless of your viewpoints, you have to admit that it's a pretty amazing opportunity that they were able to have.  They did go to the event in Toledo today.  Here is a photo my mom took:

I hope no one is offended or bothered.  I just thought that I would share some cool stories.  I am voting for Mitt because I believe that not only is he a good, honest man, but he also has the credentials.  We are in an economic crisis, and I believe that he is the man to remove us from that.  Every time I learn something new about Mitt, one solid truth continues to stand: He is a man with laser sharp focus, which is exactly what we need right now.   

When Obama and McCain ran against each other in 2008, my absentee ballot didn't come in time.  I was lucky enough to be able to actually fly to Ohio (a huge swing state) to cast my vote in person, last minute.  Even though I wasn't crazy about McCain, I felt more in alignment with him than Obama.  In this election, I feel so passionate about Mitt.  I full heartedly believe that if the American people will trust in him enough to elect him, he will be able to to get the job done.  I really believe that.  If you would like to hear more, please contact me {ashleykarena06@gmail.com}.  

P.S. Don't forget to register to vote!!