So proud and grateful...

...to have been even a small part of the NH Obama volunteer force. I haven't worked huge amounts lately (I just started a new small business) but I've been working on and off for over a year, particularly leading up to the NH primary. During that time, I've been so honored to work with and learn from so many extraordinary Americans:

The 17 year olds who won't be quite old enough to vote (or who voted in the general, but weren't yet 18 in time for the primary) --- but who worked harder than just about anyone (thank you, Theo and Co.)...

The previously disheartened JFK voters who came back to active politics for the first time in 40 years (thank you, Mickey)...

The 2000 Bush voter, a down-the-middle independent, who came around slowly but surely, eventually won over by Barack's reason and calm integrity --- enough to rally a bunch of his Massachusetts co-workers to come to Nashua and work on visibility, send in a few donations, and even plant a yard sign out by our mailbox. I'm so proud of my husband (thank you, Rob [pictured, left, doing election day visibility in Nashua, NH])...

The inner-city Massachusetts public school teacher who came north to NH to canvass and who made more calls, more patiently and effectively, than I'd previously thought possible (thank you, Michelle).

The Web 2.0 Warriors who showed me how to help them fight smears, unbalanced media coverage, and downright misinformation at every turn (thank you, Obama Rapid Response Group and related folks!)

The local HQ staffers who handled so much, so well, and whose big-picture focus, energy, flexibility, and sense of humor never flagged (thank you, Matthew, Gerad, and Richard).

To the folks in Lowell, Groton, and Greenfield, MA, as well as Peterborough, Nashua, Hollis, and Merrimack, NH, who chanted "OBAMA '08...BE A PART OF SOMETHING GREAT" with me at town transfer stations, on city street corners, and at snow-covered rural intersections last winter (sometimes in 10-degree temperatures at 7 am while holding signs with hands wrapped in three layers of gloves)...or who so generously opened their lovely homes for debate-watch parties (too many to name...): thank you.

To my old friends and new Obama cronies all over New England and much farther afield, from Peterborough to Paris, who've cheered me on when I was feeling low and sent me great information to share with others (far too many to name): thank you.

It's been the experience of a lifetime. Win or lose, my faith in American politics is back --- a pretty tall order for someone who first came to political awareness during the Iran hostage crisis in 1979 and who worked for Dukakis, Bradley, and Dean, who never made it this far.

Thank you, Barack.