Organizing Fellows: Delia in Colorado Springs

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http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/amandascott/gGxsbl

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Barack Obama

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93 days ago by neasizzlin

Throughout the next six weeks, we will be following Obama Organizing Fellows as they share their stories and their experiences. They’ll talk about the people they meet, the hardships of organizing, what the campaign means to them, and how this summer is potentially changing their lives.

Delia is an Organizing Fellow in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She’ll share a re-cap of her week every Saturday.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008, will forever remain the best day of my life as a fellow thus far.

I’m a fellow in Colorado Springs and the past two weeks have been amazing. The relationships I have built and the people I have met have been really wonderful. Colorado Springs had the honor of hosting Senator Obama Wednesday at University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS).

The private gathering had 350 people in attendance from all aspects of community service. My husband Shawn is active duty in the military and has been deployed twice. He is now stationed in Colorado Springs and he was one of the many military personnel that were in the audience.

For the event, each of us had our roles. Keith and I were responsible for making sure people in wheel chairs made it to the proper location. …It was amazing to watch Senator Obama connect with all of us and really make us look at ourselves and not to others to change this world through service.

After the event…we put up all the chairs and tore down the stage. Then we got the best news ever. We were going to meet the Senator in an hour for a picture! I almost couldn’t function. We were all so giddy, it was pretty funny to watch.
When the moment arrived, I went blank. I wanted to say something profound. I wanted to tell the Senator thank you for giving us hope again. Or tell him thank you for caring about me and my family being together and understanding that when a soldier is deployed, the whole family is deployed. I wanted to say something deep. But as he went around to shake each of our hands, all I could muster was, “Senator, it’s an honor.”
As I stood next to Senator Obama waiting for the picture to be taken, all I could think about was how historic this election truly is. My husband is white and I am black. We have a two-year-old son named Michael. And that’s when it hit me. I can look my son in his big brown-eyes and tell him, “Someday, if you work really hard, you too can be president.

Check back next week for more from Delia in Colorado Springs.