Jimmy, We Will Miss You!
Estimated reading time: 1 minute, 54 seconds
“I am glad we went early,” Jan said as we looked at the long line of people waiting to vote at Ebbetts Field Apartments.
I had placed my arm around her, not for security but for stability, as our first child was due at the end of December.
I responded that they would extend voting hours so everyone could vote.
“I want to be a parent with a president who cares about us.”
I nodded even though I knew the polls suggested it would be Ronald Reagan and not Jimmy Carter.
“We were standing close to home plate, which Jackie Robinson stole regularly. There is a chance Jimmy could still win.”
When we arrived at our home on Sterling Street, I turned on the radio after helping Jan remove her coat.
The first announcement confirmed that voting in NYC would be extended.
A half-hour later, while people on the West Coast and in our neighborhood were voting, the election was called for Reagan.
This forty-two-year-old memory resurfaced when I heard Jimmy Carter was going home for hospice.
I will leave it to professional historians to assess his one-term presidency.
What remains indisputable is his post-presidency humanitarian work.
As President Carter said,
I have one life and one chance to make it count for something… My faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can with whatever I have to try to make a difference.
Carter reminded me of my father, an honest, straightforward man who always wanted to make a difference.
Both set a high bar for my mensch-in-training studies.
Although I miss both Carter and my father, Jan, who is still with me in spirit, is the one I miss the most.
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