I must tell this story about my grandmother who died today at the age of 86

During the primary season 2 years ago, she and my step-grandfather (who also passed away last year) were big Hillary Clinton supporters. My grandmother was hostile to Obama. She once said to my father, "You know, he (Obama) is black!" To which my father, an Obama supporter even before I was, replied sarcastically "Really! When did you discover that!?" We were concerned that she would go PUMA, especially seeing as how she never had any black friends, disapproved of interracial marriage and dating and frequently used the derogatory Yiddish word "schvartze" to describe black people. Except for voting for Reagan twice, she had always voted the Democratic ticket ever since Truman.

So my Dad and I left the issue alone, seeing as how she was a voter in a safe blue state anyway. Well, fast forward to late October 2008, I decided to call her and test the waters a little, and things had changed 180 degrees. She couldn't say enough nice things about Obama (and seemed to have a real dislike for Sarah Palin too). I went to visit her for Thanksgiving that year and she was very optimistic about his presidency ("Oh, I think he's wonderful! He's fantastic, etc."). I have a feeling she must have watched the debates and had the opportunity to see Obama without the propagandists' caricatures, and the smirky commentary from the MSM. Amazing how when you just give someone a chance, the "scary" black man stereotypes just fade away.

I was proud of her for casting her final presidential ballot for the right man and not being influenced by bigotry. She even came around to supporting gay marriage a few years ago too.

RIP "bluestategrandmother"

She sounds like an interesting lady to have had in your life.

:hug::hug::hug:

My condolences on the loss of your beloved grandmother today...

And thank you for that wonderful story! To be able to change your mind is amazing at any age, but at her age? Fantastic.

You have every reason to be proud of her! These good memories will (I hope) sustain you as you grieve her loss...

Safe passage to her...

Hugs for you...

:hug: :hug:

And my sympathy; you surely will miss her.

It really sucks to lose a grandparent. I miss my grandmother so much, still.
I wish peace to you and your family. Thank you for sharing
your story.

I'm sorry for the loss of your grandmother. I'll bet she was a fun grandmom to have had!

there is a whole generation of true blue solid Dems that are just getting soooo old
(my Mom is 89 and dislikes republicans more than i do--if that is possible)

Obama, but was pro-Hillary at the beginning. Obama was a bit scary to her at first.
I'm sorry for your loss, bluestateguy. Sounds like your grandmother was a neat woman.

:hug:

Sorry for your loss. Glad she was on the right side of history.

when i go i hope i can go w. my ability to learn, change, and be open still intact, she's an inspiration ... it's so easy to get to a point where you feel "too tired" to change ... to be open and willing to fight one's own inner weaknesses even into one's 80s that's just fantastic