My grandfather died ten years ago, at the age of sixty-one. He was a retired middle school teacher, and someone who followed local politics very closely. He was for good government first, and then the Democratic Party.
Most of what I know about my grandfather I know through anecdotes and the writing that he did in his basement on a piece of crap typewriter (or, closer to his death, a piece of crap computer), and left there. I was only nine when he passed away, so I can only imagine what we would think about today's events. Would he have voted for Clinton or Obama in the RI primary? How would he have celebrated the two recent world championships of his beloved Red Sox? How many letters to the editor would he bang out every week, slamming our xenophobe governor? What advice could he give me as I attempt to follow in his footsteps and become a teacher?
There's one thing I'm pretty sure I already know: he would make great use of the Internet. He enjoyed a good scholarly debate, and was always pursuing information. As I recreate an image of my grandfather, I like to think he would've eventually found his way to Daily Kos.
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