Over twenty years ago a rather portly Mexican gentleman came into our offices and asked us for our help in registering Hispanics to vote in Wendover.
So began a two decade plus effort that often seemed futile and frustrating.
It also begat a friendship we cherish to this day.
The man was Alfonso Orosco.
And his passion to get names on the voter rolls was only eclipsed by the size of his heart.
Time and time again he met with failure but he never gave up nor lost his optomism.
It was intoxicating just to here him explain in broken English how important it was to become a citizen and to vote.
He converted us.
And of all the crusades we have been on in the 25 years nothing has meant more to us than that effort. He even got us to give a cash donation to the cause. Our heart still does back flips when we remember that.
Alfonso died earlier this year.
We were talking about how to design a new “Latinos A Votar” campaign and then suddenly he was not there anymore.
We grieve for his loss still.
The night the returns came in we could almost imagine his chuckle and thought we heard his favorite English expression in the wind: Look at that.
Well we are looking old friend.
We wish you had been here to see your dream finally come true.
But if anything it proves you were right all along.
Congratulations, your hard work paid off.
On the other hand a lot of those new Hispanic voters did note as we would have either nationally or locally.
but while we may grumble and gripe there is still that overwhelming satisfaction that they voted.
More than anything else their arrival to the polls signals their arrival to this country.
It is now their country too.
Our grandparents were also welcomed albeit grudgingly by the previous old timers and chastised for not voting the ‘right’ way.
We will not do that.
This is still a wonderful country and if we have a difference of opinion we settle it with ballots not bullets.
The other side might be wrong but they are not evil incarnate and we are pretty sure they don’t eat babies.
They may want to waste a whole lot of money but we would trust most of them to watch our kids in an emergency.