Mom, in her words

PREFACE:
This will be the first Mother's Day without mom. Very strange, but her memory, and impact, will always be with me and my brother Johnny. As we cleaned out my parents house, I came across the memoirs she had written on her computer. She thought they would be lost. Mom was all in on motherhood, and in the process, became Super Mom, always putting family first. I came across this anecdote. Johnny and I both remember the day pretty well. Please enjoy and think of a different time and the sacrifices our Moms made for us.

My Political Run

Maria J Bratsakis

It was a rather dark, gloomy and rainy day as I was cleaning up my kitchen washing the breakfast dishes looking forward to finishing up quickly, so I could sit have a cup of coffee and read the paper. The house was quiet when the telephone rang and interrupted my thoughts on how I was going to approach my full day of activities after my morning coffee.

Hello, the voice at the other end said, is this Maria Bratsakis?  I answered yes, he continued with a question that surprised me.  The caller first identified himself as being our precinct committee man Danny (Name changed) and that he had just finished with a meeting where my name was proposed to run as councilman representing our district.

Total silence ensued from my end. I was flabbergasted to say the least and quite honored but puzzled why my name would come up out of the blue as I had never had any political aspirations. To make a long story short, Danny offered his explanation as to why; he then continued reviewing their reasons such as my leadership in the various community endeavors my work at the University, and the fact that I had name

recognition and waited for a response.

I told him I would have to talk to my husband and children and think seriously on this offer and let him know in the morning.

I quickly called my husband John at work “You will never guess who I just heard from” I said in a rather excited voice. John asked who and I told him about the Precinct Committee man who asked if I was interested in running for public office. Total silence at the other end.

Hello, Hello, is anyone there? I thought the phone had died.  After several seconds a very somber low and loud voice (Johns) asked what did you tell him? I repeated my answer and John said I’ll see you when I get home. He didn’t offer any kind of congratulations, no “atta girl” comment, nothing. I knew clearly, he was not a happy camper about the prospect.

When our sons arrived from school, I was preparing dinner. I asked them about their day and then told them, with much trepidation, about my surprise phone call, anticipating a less than happy reply. Was I surprised! Both boys thought this was awesome. They would canvas the neighborhoods, and ask all of their friends to help. They would also marshal the forces, meaning my friends, to get the word out.

Next, I called my dear friend Bernie. “Super!” she replied, "I will be your campaign manager, when do we start?" Then I called my Dad in Chicago. “Hi Dad. You will never guess what kind of a phone call I got today,” I said, thinking I would get a quiet response. Instead I got a rousing, “That’s great! I’m proud of you”. I think the next thing he did after we hung up was run to the Hallmark store to buy the card I received the next day that said “Congratulations”. Dad loved politics and had long thought more women should be involved. Never thinking I would be asked to join the arena, I’m sure.

Now it was time after dinner to discuss the phone call, or so I thought. John seemed ready, as did our boys, but the they had different answers as I vividly recall. I repeated what I had said to the caller and John’s succinct reply was – “of course you will tell him NO!” The boys looked at me, their eyes pleading, say it isn’t so, you won’t say NO!

There you have it, need I say more? The next morning, I called the committee man and told him that I was not interested in running, thanking him for bringing this option to me. I made my decision on the fact that, yes, John would be unhappy, but just as importantly, I did not have the thick skin required to be in the political arena.

My sons thought I had “wimped out”, but I knew if I wanted to keep my happy marriage, my home life serene, and not embark on a venture I had never considered, I had made the right decision. I have never regretted my decision. 

I applaud the women who have the courage to leap into politics. As I look around me today and see women on both sides of the political spectrum, they pay a price for wanting to serve their constituents. All manner of privacy is gone, family comes second or even last right before them at the bottom of the ladder. The double standard still exists not at sharply defined as before but, it’s still there none the less. 

Who knows, maybe my granddaughter Anna or even my great granddaughter, will run for office. I will be cheering them on no matter what the decision because: They made the choice! when offered.