Veeps

This morning, Youngest Daughter (age 7) and I were watching CNN's discussion of Barack Obama's selection of Joe Biden as his Vice Presidential candidate.

"So," says Youngest Daughter, "the President gets to pick his own Vice President?"

"Yup," I replied.

"Well," she began confidently, "if I were President of the United States I'd pick you, Patti and Terry to be my Veeps."

"Veeps?" I asked

"Yeah Mom, that's what the news guy called Obama's friend....his Veep. I'd pick you, Patti and Terry to be my Veeps."

Of course, I had to laugh when Youngest Daughter said that. After all, doesn't the word "Veeps" sound like some perverted form of the word "Peeps"? But hey, nothing unsavory would ever issue forth from the mouth of one of my progeny, right?

I think what I found even more interesting than the whole "veeps" thing, was Youngest Daughter's selection of individuals for her venerable Veep crew.

I am certain that I made the list because I am Youngest Daughter's mother; and as such, I am imbued with an otherworldly knowledge of well...just about everything.

Patti, a family friend, was undoubtedly chosen because she knows how to make people feel special and loved.

...and Terry, well Terry is perhaps the most interesting person chosen for Youngest Daughter's Veep Squad.

You see Terry is our neighbor. He's a gruff kind of guy. Some might even say he's a bit crude. He's been known to drink too much and when he does so, salty language can be heard far and wide.

A lot of people probably wouldn't want Terry as their Veep; but I happen to think Youngest Daughter got it right when she announced Terry was one of her chosen three. You see, Terry for all of his gruffness, has a heart of gold.

Not only does Terry mow the lawns of our three elderly neighbors; but he edges all of our lawns as well.

Need help getting a cat out of the tree? Terry is there with his super-d-duper extension ladder to help.

Need help hauling something to the dump? Terry's there with his muscle and his truck.

Need someone to organize the neighborhood block party? Yup, Terry's there to find a band, and basketball hoops, hot dogs and sodas. Then Terry turns around and invites the whole neighborhood to the block party, not just the folks on our block. In fact, he will even invite the people who walk through our neighborhood. And the funny thing is, because Terry is so genuine in his invitation, most people come and we have the best damn block party in our city.

I'm not kidding, we really do have one of the best block parties any neighborhood could hope to have. The Latino families come. The white folks come. The gay couples come. The alternative teens down the street come. The families with little ones in strollers, the singles, the widows...they all come.

And because Terry's heart is golden, we all bask in his joy and goodness. We come together and we laugh, and sometimes we cry, but we come together.

I happen to think that's what this country really needs....we need a "coming together", like some giant national block party. We need the time and the space to speak our truth and to share our pain. To comfort and to be comforted. To dance in the streets, to shoot hoops and to slide like children on old fashioned watery slippery slides.

We need to remember our common humanity.

I don't know if either Presidential candidate is capable of delivering this; but of the two, my money's on Barack Obama and his Veep, Joe Biden.

Of course, if Youngest Daughter were running, well now, that would be an entirely different story. She'd have my vote hands down!