Back in the day, when I was about 11 years old, I watched my first political convention. It was not my choice by any means. But my parents wanted to see what was going on, so we gathered around our 13 inch black and white and watched Ronald Reagan accept the nomination for president. Of course, back then you were at the mercy of the main stream media to tell you how things went and what everything really meant. That really irked my dad, I learned.
That was the same summer we gathered around that little TV to watch May Lou Retton win gold for the USA in gymnastics. I remember both events. I remember both as being important and exciting to me. But only one of those events really has impacted my life and ultimately the lives of my children and the world.
As I had fair and balanced parents, we also watched the Democratic National Convention that year. I still remember listening with interest as Geraldine Ferraro gave her acceptance speech as the first woman vice presidential candidate. I gathered some basic knowledge of who the Kennedy's were and others like Tip O'Neal--whom I would see at the State-Of-The-Union addresses that I also got to take in every winter. (Oh, Little House on the Prairie, how I longed for you then!)
I didn't understand much of either party's rhetoric back then, but I did learn from my parents' response. I gained an interest in the future of my country and the type of leadership we hoped for. And, as it turned out, I took in some pretty awesome history too.
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