Un-Conventional Behavior

When I was ten, I developed my first major crush.  Unlike friends who were just discovering teenage heartthrobs like Frankie Avalon and Fabian, I fell in love with an older man.  His name was John F. Kennedy.  I filled scrapbooks with his picture, and newspaper articles about him and his family, reading everything I could and thrilling when my dreamboat became President of the United States.

The first year of his presidency, he visited Miami Beach and I remember standing outside with my entire class as his motorcade passed down the street in front of our school.  When I got home that night, my father, aware of my obsession, told me to put on my best dress because my mother wasn't feeling well (a complete fabrication) and he wanted me to accompany him instead to a political dinner where Kennedy was speaking.  I sat mesmerized, the only child in the entire ballroom at the Fontainebleau Hotel, watching my idol as he ate dinner only feet away from me.  That night I got his autograph; and the next morning I rode my bike a few miles away to stand outside the private home where I had somehow learned Kennedy was staying, waiting for three hours outside the gate until he emerged in a convertible, and I got the last glimpse of him I would ever have.

Kennedy was gone, but I remained a political junkie.  And even though I wasn't planning to comment on the political conventions, I'm still too connected to politics to let it pass, and too much of a sentimental slob not to get a little teary at the whole thing.  Call me corny--but tonight as I watched Michelle Obama and her daughters, I couldn't help flashing back to the beautiful young family who personified elegance and hope in 1960.  Michelle is only Jackie-like in her tall, slim figure and her bob hairdo--but she's the modern day counterpart of Jackie in what she adds to the full picture of her husband.  All Jackie had to do was look good and beam her smile upon the world--but a First Lady in 2008 is expected to be more, and Michelle suits the times perfectly. 

Tonight she took on the tricky and delicate job of addressing the world, and I thought she did it flawlessly.  No matter how much she's been in the public eye during the past few years, it's not easy to manage the balancing act she did--coming off as polished yet natural;  someone you could admire yet someone you could confide in over a cup of coffee--and doing all this in front of a worldwide audience.  My only quibble with her appearance is that someone should have advised her to wear a color that didn't blend into the background behind her.

As good as Michelle was, my favorite part of tonight was seeing her with her daughters, engaging in awkward conversation with Obama on the big screen.  Obviously the Democrats thought that would make good television--but I don't think there's another political family who could have pulled it off as well. Maybe it's just my memory of Caroline and John Kennedy, Jr., but something feels good about the idea of kids that age in the White House; not the lonely life of an Amy Carter or Chelsea Clinton, but girls who seem to have some spunk, sisters you can actually imagine playing a board game together, fixing each other's hair, or crawling into their father's lap to twist him around their little fingers.  It's hopeful to think that instead of a Stepford family, we might have human beings inhabiting the White House.  Even as orchestrated as the political conventions always are, the Obama family managed to exude a little spontanaeity and love.

Sorry for the political drift of this blog.  I'm Darryle Pollack and I approved this message.   

Comments

[Ron]

I like to think that I am pretty eloquent at times but I could not have expressed my feelings any better than you and Michelle. For the first time in a very, very long (too long) time, I am looking forward to this election and what it holds for our future and our children's futures. Beautifully done, as always, Darryle (and Michelle).

[Jody]

Yes, all true, BUT, I'm feeling nervous. What if he loses? I know that's defeatist and
not AT ALL HELPFUL. Sorry, sorry.

[ByJane]

Okay, was that Fabian dig meant for me? I'm shallow; so sue me.

[Duchess]

She did a great job.

It's okay to deviate into politics now and again when you have something interesting to say.

[Darryle]

Didn't get to respond till very late but appreciate all the input. I will rarely comment on politics but could not resist this time--and by the way I am equally nervous about the election. And no, Jane, the Fabian thing was not personal, nor a dig. I thought he was cute too and in fact I'm pretty sure that somewhere in my garage is a scrapbook with his picture in it.