The Reason I Vote

Four years ago I sat around my first place with 3 of my closest friends, Risa, Brad and Amelia.  We had beer, each other and Anderson Cooper.  It was election night and we were ready to see how we affected the world.  We had hoped for change and when the announcement came through that the next President of the United States of America would be Barack Obama, we rejoiced. We jumped up and down, we high fived, we clapped, we cried, we made a difference.  This is what we as the youth of America, the Rolling Stone subscribers, the people in blue, the vast minorities and the dedicated Democrats had been waiting 8 years for.  Not only were we getting our turn in the White House again, we were doing so with a man we could stand not just behind, but seemingly beside.

In the four years since that night I would like to give you a brief run-down of my life:

-I lost my job in the automotive/machining industry two weeks after election night due directly to the Detroit crisis. Upon my termination I was told "If this economy changes like it's supposed to [with Obama] you'll get a call from us.  We'll want you back."

- February 2009 I got a new job in the legal field.

- May 2009 I was diagnosed with arthritis of the back, hands, ankles and knees.  I have never cried so hard in my life.  To know my family and my family history would explain why this was devastating news to me, as I had watched family members suffer for years.  I started preventative medicine, chiropractic treatment and my daily pain subdued but never went away.

- September 2009 I bought my first home as a single, college educated and indebted woman.  With this purchase, I earned my "Obama Credit."  $7,200 on taxes and boy did I have dreams for that money.  Pay off student loans, buy a new car, go on vacation...nope it went back into my house.  The day I received my tax check, my basement flooded with 3 feet of raw sewage all $7,200 and $2,000 more went into repairing my home.

-October 2010 I lost my job (best thing that ever happened to me) and with the loss of the job went my shitty privatized health insurance I had.

- September 2011 I finally found my career and I'm not leaving anytime soon. However, I still remain without health insurance.

- September 2012 my old automotive/machining industry job called, they wanted me back.  Seems like that Obama guy got things turned around for them. I politely declined, but that was the most amazing feeling in the world!

-November 6, 2012 I will vote once again.

Here is what I want you to take away from my boring timeline.  I lost my job due to a Bush economic decision, while unemployed I utilized unemployment benefits, regained employment, bought into the American dream, lost my health insurance and survived to talk about it.  Even when unemployed for 11 months, I made my house payment, I made my student loan payments, I paid my creditors.  I was not going to lose all I had worked for just because I lost my job.  I did what I could and I tried to rely as little on help from others as possible.  At one point my mom told me to file for food stamps because she was so concerned for me and I refused.  I knew I could make it work and I didn't need that extra boost from the government I could do this on my own.  I appreciated knowing the program was there if I needed it, but I knew there were people out there that needed it more than me and who was I to take something I could manage to make on my own.

One thing I couldn't and still can't do on my own, get health insurance.  I have pre-existing conditions that prevent me from finding affordable health care and if I could afford it, I would be paying over $400 a month for private insurance (not family, just me alone.)  I can't afford that, so for the past 3 years I've gone without my pain medications, I've had my teeth cleaned once because my mother paid for it and the only time I've gone to a doctor's office was to have a tooth removed in an emergency situation.  Planned Parenthood has allowed me to retain yearly check ups I can afford and without them, I wouldn't be able to take proper care of myself.  Without them, I could have ended up another statistic, a single, pregnant, unemployed woman on government benefits, losing her home.  I didn't end up that way, because I tried, I worked my ass off, I utilized the system to the best of my ability without abusing it.  So thank you Planned Parenthood and President Obama for allowing me to help myself.

I now have a job, I have my home, I have my experience living in a horrible economy and soon if all goes as planned I will have universal healthcare and possibly be free of my pain, once again.  Tomorrow I will vote for Obama because I need universal health care, I believe in helping out our American brothers and sisters in need, I hope for a progressive and environmentally conscious government and I stand behind a man that has done all he can to stand behind women like me.

Disagree with me?  Cool.  Show me at the polls.  Go VOTE America!  It's our freedom, our right and our obligation!