September 19, 2020 – Turning 70 in One Month Yet Feeling Like 16 Still Stuck in Time – But, This Time I Get to Vote

I remember distinctly hearing this song many places many times through several years while in high school, but especially early on.

One hot afternoon when my dad had picked me up from school, I’d stayed in his truck while he went into the local bank to get cash or deposit a check. I was too self absorbed to wonder what he might be having to go through, but going to the bank, nearly daily, for a small businessman like my dad, was an everyday thing back then. It was the way business was done.

There were a lot of things that that was the way “things” were done back then, too many of which still pervade our everyday lives I think, but I was nearing or right at 16, can’t remember now for sure, and the war in Vietnam was full thrust, with many years and several presidential terms by two presidents still to go. John F. Kennedy had already been killed, back when I’d just started junior high. His brother, Bobbie Kennedy not much after that. Then Martin Luther King. And years later, but on a string of events we all knew was horribly there, John Jr died in an airplane “accident.”

The radio in the truck was on full blast, Barry McGuire’s angry anthem balm for my ears, my heart, my fear and my anger.

And in Houston, Texas in the mid 60s, protesting etc was, well, not a good idea. Banks were being threatened with bombs and students on college campuses were being shot. A Hispanic or two were found in Buffalo Bayou.

It was revolutionary times, it was scary times, and I could not yet vote.

Now. Yes. I can. And I will.

As I’ve done every presidential election I could legally vote.

The memory of John F. Kennedy and the promise and actuality of hope, progress, acceptance of our neighbors south of our southern most borders – a desire to help and volunteer, to be fit, not litter – all part of a massive wave of optimism that took multiple assasinations to stunt, was still everywhere. Especially among those of us still “growing up.”

We could not yet vote.

Now. We can.

And will.

And so I’m not too much misunderstood here 😊 though I have very distinct clear preferences of how and for whom to vote, it is, for me, as important, that we all be allowed and able to vote. Regardless of party or political persuasion.

I have a faith that hasn’t died out that, if the people of our country and get to the poles, or vote remotely, and have their vote counted, that power will and has compelled potential elected representatives to – at the least – try to reflect that public’s will.

And I have enough faith in the goodness of people’s hearts, to feel the outcome of that type of democratic election, can and will carry us forward.

Questions about voting eligibility, voter confirmation, voter accessibility in terms of time and places, can all be worked out – IF – the goal is representation of the people’s will.

Obstruction of that process is only due to fear and unclear guidelines of how to enable univerasal voting to occur.

I sure can’t make all that happen, or be corrected. Not by myself.

But I can, and I will – vote 🇺🇸

Thanks everyone!
Adan

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A much more iconic, ie, with images of the time, video rendition of Barry McGuire’s song is also available on YouTube. I didn’t feature it because, quite frankly, it is brutal. If you choose to link to it to view, just be aware of that. Most of the imagery is historically accurate, for the time, or for times further ahead of the 60s, with only a few digitally embellished commentary style pics. The photos are all commentary of course, but as I mentioned, the majority are also historically accurate of the times and times ahead. And, in my opinion, worth remembering, but very brutal in their total and sometimes individual affect. A “strong” R rating, from me, even if reality based….

Barry McGuire – Eve of Destruction YouTube –
https://youtu.be/fmTDWPd7RgU

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Yesterday I posted a similar theme, with YouTube video, that evolved to today’s post —
Aging Gracefully During Covid-19 : The Seasons – and Hopefully The Times – Are A Changin’

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Thanks again, everyone! 😊

Adan

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