Make a Dream a Reality

By Rebecca Kosbab

This begins with some family history. My father came to this country from Norway. His father was elected Executive Secretary of a very large union, “Jern og Metal”, in Stavanger, Norway. This union comprised ship builders and other metal workers. It was a big step up for him. My father remembered how proud he was to march at the side of his father in the May Day parades. This helped to explain how liberal politics was in my father’s blood, "a deep identification with the working class and the underdogs in society". The last couple of years they were in Norway his family lived upstairs of the union offices in a house fronted by a small plaza. On special days crowds would gather in the plaza and his father would speak to them from one of the windows.

“But sinister forces were also at work. In the course of his days he was constantly confronted with the use of alcohol. To be a good fellow he went along with the drinking. And in the course of time he became an alcoholic… It finally came to a point where my mother gave an ultimatum: either he break away from his present environment and “friends” and immigrate to America or she would file for divorce.” He chose America.                

                                            (excerpts from Recollections by John Monrad Stensvaag)

I was born and raised in Minneapolis, MN. My mother was a homemaker and is 92 years old. She is sharp as a tack and a beacon of love and caring. My father was a seminary professor and died over 20 years ago. I am the oldest with a sister who is a social worker now working as a probation officer, a brother who is a law professor and another brother who is a Lutheran pastor and worked as a missionary in Japan for 15 years. I graduated Lutheran Deaconess Hospital School of Nursing in 1965. Currently I work as a RN in psychiatry. My husband Wayne, a CPA, and I have no children, BUT our 12 nephews and nieces, their spouses and our 4 grand nieces and nephew are a part of our hearts. Six of the nephews and nieces are adopted: 2 are biracial African American, 3 Korean and 1 Japanese. One niece is married to a man from Belarus. One niece is working in Japan and one is in the Peace Corps in Mozambique, Africa. My extended family was once described as "a beautiful rainbow of color".

At age 64 I had never been involved in politics before except to vote—only paying attention to the basics about the candidates. My brother, who is always involved in politics and an author of several books on environmental law, started sending me information and excerpts about Barack Obama. He commented that one day MAYBE he would run for president. I was also impressed that he seemed to have a vision for America that was really significant.

THEN YES! Barack Obama WAS running for president. I read his books and speeches, attended rallies and read other material which reinforced my feeling that he is “the real deal” and has substance to back up his words. Everything that I had seen, read and heard convinced me that he had the character we needed to change America back to the country I once knew. A person with his values, ethics, compassion, intelligence, judgment, leadership comes along once in a blue moon. AND he cares about ALL people and treats them as equal and important. This put a fire in my heart and soul for Barack Obama to win the nomination and then the presidency. I was determined that we could not let him slip through our fingers without making the most of his God given gifts. If we did we would miss the chance to once again change the course of our nation and in effect the world forever for the better. 

I must have inherited my father’s “deep identification with the working class” which caused me to become totally involved in Barack Obama’s campaign for President of the United States. I never realized the connection until I recently re-read my father’s recollections. Before that I kept saying “I honestly can’t even describe what is happening to me”. But I now see that the crisis American people faced  made me feel desperate to try to do something about it before it was too late. And my father and grandfather's concern for "the working class and the underdogs in society" was also alive in me.

All of a sudden I felt an overwhelming need to be involved in everything possible and tell everyone the presidential election November 2008 may be the most important election in our lives. I jumped in to the campaign feet first realizing that if I did not get involved I would regret it the rest of my life. In the primary/caucus season I made calls to 14 states totaling over 5000. I had many experiences one I remember was a man in Maryland or Virginia saying “Americans need to learn 3 new words”. I replied questioningly “Yes we can?” He said no “President Barack Obama”.

I recall watching the primary returns and hearing that he had won Wisconsin. I totally lost it and began sobbing like I haven’t done in quite some time. WHY? Why did the impact of his winning 22 states with 9 in a row hit me with such force? It took awhile to figure it out but I finally realized that his primary wins brought us closer than I ever thought we would come in my lifetime to seeing Martin Luther King, Jr’s dream come true. Ever since I heard and read his speeches and the story of the Civil Rights Movement I have been praying very hard that God would help our country come closer to a realization of King’s dream. “That one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal. I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”            (excerpts from “I Have a Dream” Martin Luther King, jr).

This had become my dream too—for my nieces and nephews AND FOR ALL Americans! I truly believe that if our nation judges Barack Obama on the content of his character he will become our next President.

At the end of the primary season I received a call from The Obama Headquarters in Chicago stating I had been one of the top 50 phone bankers. They did a profile on me for their homepage. After the primaries I was fortunate to volunteer and then attend the Xcel Rally 6/3/08 when the delegate count had been reached for Barack Obama to be the presumptive nominee for the Democratic Party. As I watched and listened I knew with total certainty that my world would never be the same. Barack Obama had inspired me to do something I never imagined I could do. He spoke to ME when he said “I’m asking you to believe. Not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington… I’m asking you to believe in yours.” He challenged me by asking for my help—as one person—to take on the cause and along with many others to make IT happen. In acting I became a person I am more proud of and believe in more. I also believe again in my country and that there really are leaders like him dedicated to us all and to this vision of change our nation needs.

I had just begun this crusade and had no intention of quitting now. I continued calling voters through the Obama website Neighbor to Neighbor and for the Minnesota Campaign for Change Field Organizer for my district CD2 through Votebuilder. Also writing letters to the editor, staffing the Obama table at the Minnesota State Fair and participating in debate parties and other activities.

More recently I have become very involved with SEIU MN. This is the union that represents health care workers like myself and has helped me personally through two lay offs. This makes me think about my grandfather’s union involvement.  The International and State SEIU is very involved in Health Care Reform. I am now making calls through Healthcare United to other health care workers “Voter Information Calls” to get the facts out on both candidates’ health care policies. The differences are staggering. My calls for these three organizations are now over 5000 making my total calls for this campaign over 10,000. AND I am not done yet.

Giving healthcare coverage to all Americans is a centerpiece of Obama's campaign, as it is for SEIU Healthcare.We must elect Barack Obama or health care will go backwards which we cannot afford. I have seen the effects of the current health care system in my own life and in the lives of my patients. People cannot afford preventative care or treatment. My psychiatric patients and family members are not able to afford medication that they desperately need in order to function. Mental Health and Chemical Dependency are not properly covered as the physical illness that they have been proven to be. I am reminded of my grandfather’s alcohol problem and how it almost broke up his family. Yet when I knew him he was no longer drinking and a delightful man. Also I had an episode of severe depression over 40 years ago. The actual pain I felt is not possible to describe and not helped by any "pain pill". I even contemplated suicide. Thank God I had good insurance and proper treatment and came out on the other side having gained a personal knowledge and empathy of what depression is and how it feels that has allowed me to better serve my patients. I also could tell them with certainty that it was treatable--after all I recovered. The Obamas are committed to reforming health care. SEIU Healthcare plans to work tirelessly on this and I want to be a part of it if at all possible.

“America also needs to live up to its promise of our ideals. Race is an issue this nation cannot afford to ignore. A single candidacy will not get us beyond the racial divisions. But we know America can change…What we have already achieved gives us hope--the audacity to hope—for what we can and must achieve tomorrow. What is called for is nothing more, and nothing less, than what all the world’s great religions demand—that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Let us be our brother’s keeper, let us be our sister’s keeper. Let us find that common stake we all have in one another, and let our politics reflect that spirit as well.”                 (excerpts from “ A More Perfect Union” Barack Obama)