Sunday, November 10, 2024

I see dead people...

 well, at least I think about them. In view of political manifestations of late, I remember how I got involved in "politics."  Jack Brackley, then Committee Chairman,  called me and asked if I would be on the Pittstown  Democratic Committee, which had lost a few of its small membership. At first I said I coudn't because I had a young child, but when he called back later and said my duties would take minimal time, I agreed. And so began my memebership on the Pittstown Democratic Committee.

  Jack rarely was able to attend meetings because he worked nightshift, but he kept advised of the happenings. Eventually he decided to resign, maybe because of health reasons. And a new Chairman was elected, Jim D.  He was a charismatic and efficient person in his capacity as Chairman, but he had never had the opportunity to meet with Jack. The PDC had many proactive exchanges and encounters during those years. But there was one unnoticed event. After a lifetime of being a Democrat, Jack abruptly changed his enrollment to independent or maybe blank. I was never told by him, but heard from  another that Jack had felt insulted because the new Chair had not contacted him as the outgoing Chair. In  hindsight, I'm sure Jim would gladly have met with him and even celebrated Jack's service, but I guess circumstances did not promote what Jack had perceived as protocol. 

  Some years later, Jack's health in further decline, he called me one day and asked my help. He asked if I would bring a voter enrollment form to his house in Tomhannock. I did. He and Carol were there, along with his mother, who was situated in a chair near the doorway, her health in rapid decline. Jack filled out the enrollment form registering him as Democrat, and I mailed it, as he had asked. When he died, not long after, he died as he had lived, politically speaking. 

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