Hey gang, you did good last weekend. We heard back.

[TayTay]

A lot of people last year spent a great deal of time worrying and hoping and intensely caring about the election. There was a great deal of outrage over the various personal (oh so personal) slams that were made against both JK & THK. (People have written about this in this group and how it tore them apart. It was just so unfair and awful and it hurt.) The loss was crushing for all of us who worked and hoped for change.

Ever since last year, one of the underlying, small themes of this group that has come up from time to time is the idea, "Are they okay? Are THK & JK and their families and all the people that we saw last year, in person or on C-Span, are they okay?" This came up whenever one of us would go to an event and hear Sen. Kerry speak or when we would hear about Teresa. We would listen to what was said, take down the words and analyze what was going on. But there were always questions like, "How did they look? Did they seem relaxed? Did they seem, you know, happy or tired or what?" It was a way of asking that oh so human question, "Are you okay?" While we knew that this would take time to heal, we just wanted everyone who worked so hard on the campaign, from JK & THK to all those staffers that we saw on C-Span and on TV to heal and be 'okay.' (Really, it is a sub-theme here. It comes up all the time.)

I think there are a lot of people who have wondered this. (Not just us.) But I think little actions like the ones we took help in making things okay. They communicate caring and concern and they let JK & THK know that there are people out there who really do want them to thrive. And we heard back from someone who helped us organize this event. I think we did a good thing here. You should know that.

And, once again, those of us in Boston were representing everyone here. (Hey, you newbies count too you know!) This isn't just for 'the Boston crowd.' If it was, I wouldn't be posting it here. It's for all of us. (That card so rocked. Take a bow again babylonsister!)

From one of the organizers of last weekend: (Printed here with permission)

... I hope you know how deeply happy you have made JK and THK. And,
in my book, that makes you all golden. Thank you, from me, for going the
extra miles (literally, uphill and on ice!) to let them know how much
support and love there is out here in the world of the internets.

I told (some of us) that John and Teresa were the ONLY people in the
campaign (well, Elizabeth Edwards too) who *got* the value of the blogs
and bloggers. That you all gave up whatever you had going on and flew or
drove to Boston just to say happy birthday and deliver the good wishes of
all the bloggers--well, that just tells them a lot.

(We) worked very hard on the campaign; we were often
frustrated by the lack of attention to all of you who cared so much and
worked so hard, both online and on the ground. Over the past year, we
have seen the toll the loss and subsequent reliving of the "mistakes" that
were made (and there were some made, but not the ones (...spoken about the
loudest on the blogs!)) that has been taken on both John and Teresa.
This party was joyful for them, and it makes my heart sing to know this.

Thirdly, I know how joyful this was because Teresa wrote to me and told me
how happy she was.

I just thought you might want to know, I really think they are okay. I really do. And this makes my heart sing too! Thanks to everyone, you guys rock!

[ray of light]

1. really sweet! (and true!)

[karynnj]

2. That is so sweet

Teresa is wonderful - and obviously the group of you made them very happy, which is cool because they deserve it.

[TayTay]

4. And again, it was also that card

and all those precious signatures. Seriously. We had a staffer with us at the late night surprise visit. He took a phone call and was asked by JK what all those postmarks were and what they meant. We told him that they were proof of how well-travelled those cards were and how happy people were to sign their names and send them off with all those good wishes. That was amazing. It was every bit as touching as anything that we did in Boston.

You need to know that.

[Island Blue]

3. Just the fact that all of us in some small way made

John and Teresa happy is amazing to me. I just wish that everyone in the country could see in these two wonderful people the same things that all of us here in this group see. The world would certainly be a better place for it. Thanks for passsing this along to everyone.

[karynnj]

6. I agree that it would be great if people could see them as they are.

One of the nicest things about the whole story is how happy Teresa was that she could surprise her husband with something that clearly touched him. (not that it didn't involve her as well.) Seeing how very nasty comments about their marriage were even in pretty MSM, it would also be good if people saw that there was no basis for any of those cracks.

[globalvillage]

5. Oh, hell.

The tears stopped a year ago and now they're back.
I'm glad the Kerrys are OK. Just the thought of what they went through, though, is really, really heartbreaking.

[Blaukraut]

7. I'm so glad

That we made them smile. They deserve to know that there is still plenty of support out there for John Kerry, and that we will always have his back, no matter what :-)

[politicasista]

8. I am glad we made them smile and they're ok

I too wish people could see them for who they are and not through the * loving whore media. :-(

[jillan]

9. It must be so hard to be a politician, especially in the circumstances

that they are in right now. Especially John Kerry who has higher aspirations.
He probably asks himself everyday if he should make another run for it, do the people in this country really want him to.

Last weekend you gave him the answer. Thanks to all of you that went, and again thank you Babylonsister for making that card!

[karynnj]

17. He kind of talked about how hard it was when people run

in the Corzine speech yesterday. I don't know how much was said in the national press but the last several weeks of that campaign were beyond the nastiness of 2004. (Probably because they had no real dirt on Kerry - in his personal or profesional life.)

Aside from the sheer nastiness of using his ex-wife's anger, they attempted to attach Corzine to every bit of NJ Democratic corruption - even though he was not involved. The good news is that with all this, he won and won big.

[jenndar]

10. That was wonderful to read n/t

[kerrygoddess]

11. Great stories for grandkids one day

for all of you. People are always blown away when I tell my stories about meeting JK and THK. I've seen people get tears in their eyes. They are real people just like we are and they have big hearts.

[sandnsea]

12. Wonderful!!

It sounds like an awful lot of people were just tickled last weekend. Very nice to know.

[wisteria]

13. That card seemed so special, just knowing who it was intended

for and seeing how genuine it was. I suppose you could say it was the real deal. I couldn't be in Boston, but I will be forever grateful for the opportunity to sign the card and knowing it meant so much to "our John and Teresa".

[ray of light]

16. Yeh, the card was so important and everyone worked so hard

to send it all over the place.

The card was so important that I was afraid to have it sent to me because I might lose it!

So though my sig's not on the card...it's there in ghost graffitti. I used special invisible ink and sent it, using my magic wand and my tremendous wizard powers and I said the magic words, "lipidy dipity...send this to Kerry" and voila my ghost graffitti landed miraculously on the card. Sure..it's still invisible, not to be seen by the naked eye, but it's from my heart so it's still there...

And yes....modern technology, like scanners, does exist, but I didn't have one but I do have certain magical powers instead. So the ghost graffitti will have to do.


(edited for spelling)

[karynnj]

18. Funny you should mention the fear of losing it

"The card was so important that I was afraid to have it sent to me because I might lose it!"

I hadn't worried when I signed up, but by the time I hadn't gotten it after 5 days, I was terrified that it had been misdelivered to a neighbor. (I actually very carefully checked the bag of recycling - thanking God that NJ (at least in the North) requires requires recycling of paper.)

[ray of light]

22. wow! you found it there?

See...had it been sent to me, with everything I have on my plate, it would have been stacked somewhere, and I'd have found it sometime next year!

[karynnj]

25. No - it just took a long time coming

When it came, I realized how dumb my fear was because it was in a really big, easilly identifiable envelope - which I was super happy to get and was then very happy when Faye got it.

(I was just glad to know there was no way that I could have inadvertly missed it in the mail.)

[Vektor]

14. I am so happy to hear this Tay!

I am so thrilled that we made an impression! Let's do this again next year. And the circulating cards too. We can send them out a little earlier, so even more people get to sign.

I am so excited, but am having huge withdrawal symptoms right now, I miss the Kerrys so much. I wish I still lived in Boston, and could rest assured knowing they were nearby, and working so hard to serve the state I lived in.

You are so lucky, Tay.

[ProSense]

15. That's wonderful! Tay, thanks for sharing.

I so happy that you all had such an impact on JK and THK. They deserve every special accolade for being who they are.

Everyone here makes me so happy.

:grouphug:

[politicasista]

24. And you guys do the same

:grouphug: :hi:

[beachmom]

19. Wow, that is amazing how something which started so innocently

(Hey let's send a card all over country), which we assumed would end up in a pile of mail at the Senate's office ballooned into this. It makes you believe in that idea, that if you do nice things for people, figuring they might not even find out, that good Karma will eventually come your way, too. Of course, it doesn't hurt that we directed this good will toward a politician who is a wonderful human being and who would understand the profoundness of the gesture.

Insert playful tone in the following paragraph:

But I'll have to say this, guys: y'all better not be makin' this up!! I mean, if Kerry comes to Virginia some time, and I walk up to him and say "I'm one of those bloggers from Democraticunderground who signed your b-day card", he better not look at me like I have three heads, and give a small gesture to his aid to have me taken away! It's kind of like when the first man landed on the moon, and it was so unbelievable that people figured the whole thing was put together in a Hollywood studio. I mean, you guys being the center of the party and later having a beer with JK in an Irish pub, no less. It's just too much, too amazing. True, the photos seemed convincing at first, but photoshop can work wonders, you know. Oh, and the snow storm had a nice folksy touch. So far your best evidence is that Vektor said she had a cold, and then suddenly Kerry shows up on the Senate floor with a cold. But did it really happen? Come on. You can be honest with me!;-) Okay, I'll have faith in you guys, but it is hard to believe, it's so incredible!

[blm]

20. This is what makes me appreciate all of you even more.

Ceretainly more than words can say.

[ginnyinWI]

21. it was serendipity

Everything came together just right to produce a great result!

I want to chime in and also say that I was super nervous about having the West Coast card in my house over that weekend! Yipes--what if something happened to it--and it were my fault! I checked and re-checked that everything was included and was just right before I mailed it, and I breathed a sigh of relief when it finally arrived at TayTay's! Whew.

[babylonsister]

23. I certainly didn't expect all that happened to my

Kerry devotees to happen from the birth of a few cards. You all are terrific for going the extra mile to MA to celebrate with Mr. and Mrs. Kerry, and I'm proud to be connected to all of you thoughtful, caring, intelligent people in any way!:grouphug: