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Could she possibly have
voted for a Republican?
By PATRICIA J. GEISTER
of TheColumnists.com
There were no good Republicans in my Grandma Lucy Hubbard's world. Unless you were a hard-shelled Baptist and a Democrat to the bone, you would never see Heaven. No, sir, there were no Republicans in her Heaven, not even Baptist Republicans. Mom grew up thinking all yellow dogs were Republican symbols. Grandma often declared, "Them no good Republicans would vote fer a yaller dog if they put it on their ticket."
The last time I saw Grandma alive was shortly after the Republicans had chosen General Dwight D. Eisenhower to run for President. Mom and I were visiting the family in Talala, Oklahoma on a summer holiday. She asked the two of us to join her outside away from everyone else so she could tell us something important. We followed her to a spot far enough away from the house that we couldn't be heard.
"Nellie, I got somethin' I need to tell you, but you got to promise never to tell another living soul. Hear?"
"Grandma, what is it?"
"Let me hear that promise, girl. You too, Patty."
"All right, Grandma, we promise."
"I got to do something I'll take to my grave. Nellie,
maybe you livin' in that big city, will make you understand.
I know the rest of this family wouldn't."
She lapsed into silence, grief welled up in her eyes and she
took off her round, wire rimmed spectacles to wipe away the tears.
"Nellie, I'm gonna vote for Eisenhower," she choked.
"I know them Republicans got him, but I can't hep it.
Don't you think the Democrats wanted him, too?"
Her eyes couldn't meet ours. She looked down at the ground.
Mom was stunned, unable to answer immediately. Finally she said, "Well, Grandma, I think so. I think either party would have been glad to have him as their candidate. Why are you worried? Nobody will know how you cast your vote."
"God will know, girl! I hope he'll forgive me," she wept. "Oh, Nellie, Patty, will you pray for me?"
We both promised to maintain our silence and to pray she
would be forgiven for her premeditated sin. Grandma
lived only a few years after Eisenhower took office.
I have no doubt she made it to Heaven, and I'm equally sure she
blamed her death on that one and only Republican vote.
None of my Hubbard cousins in my mother's generation achieved
wealth or success. Grandpa Frank Hubbard was
satisfied to put food on the table and clothes on his back.
Ambition had been limited to barely enough of a cotton crop to
do either. He's been dead since 1943. I wonder if
he and Grandma have any way of knowing that one of their great
granddaughters has a nice job with the Democratic National Committee
in Washington, D. C. What a terrible shame if they don't.
That has to mean she's a good Democrat girl.
©2004 by Patricia J. Geister. The drawing (with text added)
is from IMSI's Master Clips Collection, 1895 Francisco Blvd.
E., San Rafael, CA, 94901-5506, USA.
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