Democratic Primaries

It wasn't my parents' influence for that, they were weirdly reluctant to talk about politics. You could put a gun to their heads and they wouldn't tell you who they voted for or why or if they even voted. I just assumed they voted, if they did, for Democrats. It wasn't until I was in my forties that my mother admitted she and my father had only voted for Republicans their whole lives. Because their mommy and daddy were Republicans.

The reason I was adamant about voting from the time I was old enough was my high school American history teacher, now that I think about it. It was my junior year, 1977, but he was stuck in the '50s: white shirt buttoned up to the top and pens in the pocket, huge worn-out leather shoes, a crew cut. I don't even remember his name. Thank you, Mr. crew cut, you did your job very well.