Nice Visit with a Raging Granny

I had to stop back by the house of the first person I interviewed for this project, last night, because I did not have the respondent fee form with me at the end of that interview and I needed to get her signiture/initials (to prove she received the $20). It had taken me almost 3 weeks to get back to her town because I have so many cases that are really spread out and her town is pretty far out. This woman is 82, had polio as an infant and is slightly disabled, although that has never stopped her from doing whatever she set her mind to. She defines feisty! She was glad to see me and gave me another potholder that she'd made. I got to meet her granddaughter, who I'm almost sure I used to know when we both worked at a mall 16 years ago.

This elderly woman lives in a very small, rural town. She's lived in that area her entire life. She surprised me when she went off on a rant against Bush last night. He husband is a decorated WWII vet; wounded at Iwo Jima and the whole patriotic she-bang. She's very proud of his military record; talks about it every chance she gets. She's not counter-culture in any way and she HATES what GW has done. She came close to crying when she talked about all the "boys" being sent to die overseas. I can't identify as affiliating with any political leaning as a representative of the company I work for, I have to remain completely politically impartial, but I was with her in spirit!

I guess because so many of the "common folk" around here (including my parents and all my aunts and uncles up in Indiana) are devout, God-fearing, morals-voting, "stand with the president" Republicans, I begin to assume that everybody is. I'm always so happy to meet wonderful voices of dissent in the "red state" zones.

quilt

"Blood and Oil"
by
Janet Kurjan