A Letter to My Two Year-Old Daughter

Dear J,

The next month will be a difficult one for us, and although you won't remember it in the coming years, I wanted to write you a letter to explain why I'm not going to be there as much as I'd like, and why it's such a tough choice - one I feel is necessary to make.  I'm going to be mentally distant, constantly wired, in constant meetings, and working like a crazy person and I know you don't understand it all.  In my mind, the justification is that one month of crunch time before one of the biggest national elections in our time could shape your future, the future of the nation and the future of the planet.  I hope the days you miss your mommy will pass quickly and that we can still relish the time we do have together.

I'm not going to toot my horn and say that my own involvement could make or break the outcome of the election, but you never know when something little that you do could help change one person's mind and promote a ripple effect.  What I do believe is that each of us aims to be true to our values, and although sometimes we may disagree on issues or positions, we should support each other in our commitment to the betterment of our world - in hopes we will solve some of the major challenges of our society thereby improving the lives of others.  I was brought up by my parents - your grandparents - to feel strongly about voluntarism, philanthropy, and public service.  Something in the core of my being just doesn't feel right to sit on the sidelines and watch the world go by.  Believe me - there are many days I wish that I could.

So here we are just five weeks away from a national election that could turn the tides in our environment, our national security, our economy, our constitutional rights, and our freedoms as women.  Having seen the damage done over the past 7 1/2 years by a national administration that distracted and indebted us for a war that was proven unnecessary, turned the clock back on environmental and foreign policy progress at least a decade, threatened our personal choices, and stuffed the pocketbooks of giant corporations poorly managed and damaging to public health, I cannot in good conscience wait and see what the outcome will be.  I'm frightened at what could be at state in terms of the integrity of our democracy.

I'm sad that I will be staying up late working on projects, getting up early for meetings, sending you out with babysitters in the last days of sunny weather, letting you watch more TV than I should, and reducing our family time some evenings, but I hope you know that the moments we do spend together are immensely important to me.  Looking into your beautiful eyes, I'm reminded as to why I work so hard and what it means to me that we succeed in bringing the change we so desperately need to our country and hope to the world, so I ask your forgiveness for giving so much time to others when I could be with you.  The truth is I'm lucky to be able to make this choice - many mothers and fathers are forced to work long hours away from their children for months and years on end - but I believe we can work together to change that and to bring families closer together, leading to other improvements in the lives of families.

Someday, I hope you will read this and perhaps understand a little more about what drives me to be overcommitted when some other moms choose to focus solely on their kids.  This is just who I am, and from the empathetic nature I've seen in you, I wouldn't be surprised if you took a keen interest in voluntarism as well.  For now, I'm looking forward to the end of the election when we can spend more time together and hopefully we can toast with apple juice to more sunny days in the future ahead.

With much love and hope,

Mom

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Sarah Granger is a new media and online organizing strategist and blogger for candidates and political organizations. She is choosing to take this precious time away from her young daughter to campaign for Barack Obama and local Democrats.

Original Silicon Valley Moms Blog post.