Larsapalooza Take II

Okay, can I just say I am married to a great guy?

I AM MARRIED TO A GREAT GUY!

Thanks.

Lars has been out there knocking on doors to help get out the vote for about seven hours now, with an hour lunch break. We started together but I pooped out after two hours. (Truth be told I had a tutoring client to torture into completing some boring work, but really, I'd have pooped out after two hours anyway.)

So there he goes, trudging through some VERY high-rent districts in Newton, his feet chilly in those Birkenstocks he MUST wear year-round -- especially as he happens also to be wearing socks that encourage his big toes to peep out  (look, it's true, I'm living with a hobo).

He actually finished the first round of canvassing around forty-five minutes ago. I urged him to come home for hot cider. He said, "I will. Unless they need me some more."

I replied, "Really, Lars. You have done enough."

He said, "But if they go down on their knees and beg?"

"In that case," I told him, "I'll think it over."

Of course, he just called and said he was doing another round. I reminded him we were supposed to be at an election party, like, twenty minutes ago. He said, "That can wait. This is important, voting is important. I'm making the only contribution I can today."

He said that because he is what I like to refer to as our "resident alien." He's a German citizen, not an American -- yet.

The best moment we shared today while canvassing together was when a guy came out of a gardening truck -- no one in the pricey Boston burbs seems to do their own lawn work -- and smiled broadly at us. He knew what we were up to, and for which candidates we were braving the cold.

"I voted today," he called out happily, in thickly accented English. "My first time!"

I knew what he meant. "Are you a new citizen?" I asked him, and he nodded emphatically.

"Congratulations!" we said. "Good for you!"

"I voted for Warren, and for Obama," he said. "And voting was wonderful. It meant I count."

I gave him two thumbs up. What a great moment that was! I wish we all felt that sense of counting, and being counted, at election time.

And Lars is out there still, reudging through the dark, making sure it happens for everyone.