I remember what my son Frank said after his first child was born: being a parent is like throwing your heart in the middle of a New York City street and hoping it doesn’t get trampled on.
I related to that – having been around as my five sons battled their way into adulthood.
-Watching one of my sons at age fifteen umpire his first little league game – and listening to the parents jeering at a miscall.
-Watching one of my sons struggle with a painful break-up with his girlfriend.
-Watching them strike-out, fumble a pass, fail a test, re-take the test and fail again.
I watched when I could fix things.
I watched when I couldn’t fix things.
And tried to fix them anyway.
I learned that a mother’s instinct to protect her child never leaves – even when that child has gray hair and has almost reached the half-century mark
So I thought I was prepared to weather the ups and downs of a campaign – especially since my son had won two campaigns in the last eight years. And as always, I threw myself in to it with wild abandon and high expectations.
And what have I learned?
What again have I been reminded of?
Politics isn’t always fair
The most qualified often don’t win
Money can buy votes
And the only reliability is unreliability
And then there are the many high points:
The frontrunner for Tampa’s mayoral race declares three times publicly that if she weren’t running, she’d vote for Harry
Harry’s TV ad rocks it!
To all my friends and family that have not only supported my son Harry in his run for Mayor of Tampa, but have been there for me as well: a sincere, heartfelt, thoroughly appreciative hug.
There are one woman and six men running for mayor. If no candidate gets fifty percent of the vote on Tuesday, the top two vote-getters will be in a run-off.
Will Harry make the cut Tuesday night and make it into the April 23 run-off?
Who knows.
Will Harry be content with whatever the outcome is on Tuesday night?
You bet.
Because he fought valiantly, fearlessly, honorably and fairly.
Because he did the best he could and his best was good enough.
And that’s what really “counts” when the votes come rolling in.
Keep Preserving Your Bloom and please forward this to your friends and family living in Tampa,
Iris Ruth Pastor