Read on Twitter
In NY& #39;s primary, I didn& #39;t vote for Biden. (I believe in voting your 
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="❤️" title="Rotes Herz" aria-label="Emoji: Rotes Herz"> in primaries, even in long-over races.) But I want to tell you a story -- in a long thread, sry! - about why I& #39;m not just voting *against* Trump but actively *for* Biden this fall. TL;DR: It& #39;s about grief. /1
In May 2017, I was invited to join a small meeting in DC with a handful of other org leaders to give updates to the VP on our work. Honestly, I was terrified -- I was the youngest one in the room & feeling very out of my league. /2
(As an aside, I remember it vividly because this meeting was the same day Comey got fired -- the push notifications popped up on all our phones in the middle of the meeting & we all got a bit distracted...) /3
Anyway: So after my presentation on @runforsomething, the VP talked a little about his time as a 28-year-old on the New Castle County Council, and the way it felt to make a real impact on his community. (Y& #39;all know I love that.) /4
After the meeting, people were schmoozing. I was standing in the corner talking with @schultzohio , who I know from Obamaworld. Greg kindly asked me: "Amanda, do you want a picture with the VP?" I declined. /5
"I really don& #39;t like doing that," I said, laughing & feeling kind of silly. Greg laughed with me - then called the VP over. "Mr Vice President, come take a photo with Amanda!" /6
The VP came over & I tried to play it cool. "Well, my Grammy would be furious if she knew I was at a meeting with you & didn& #39;t get a photo."
"Grammy?" the VP said, perking up as we posed for the photo you can see here. "Let& #39;s call her!" /7
"Grammy?" the VP said, perking up as we posed for the photo you can see here. "Let& #39;s call her!" /7
So I took my phone back and did what he asked: I called her. "Hi Grammy," I said. "Sorry for interrupting your bridge game. Someone wants to talk to you." Then I handed my phone to the VP. /8
"Hi Grammy. This is Joe Biden."
Grammy& #39;s a loud phone talker, so I could sort of hear her -- she was overwhelmed. He started out by talking about how how @runforsomething is doing great work & that she should be so proud of me. (FWIW, she is!) /9
Grammy& #39;s a loud phone talker, so I could sort of hear her -- she was overwhelmed. He started out by talking about how how @runforsomething is doing great work & that she should be so proud of me. (FWIW, she is!) /9
Grammy went on to tell him how she has 18 grandkids -- and she& #39;s truly proud of all of us. The VP was smiling & cheery, and I could nearly hear her smiling through the phone. Then she went on... /10
She had four daughters. Her second eldest, my aunt Michelle, was in the hospital. Colon cancer, advanced. She was really sick. She had three kids, all young. It had been a rough two years. The VP& #39;s posture changed immediately. /11
VP Biden stood still. He stopped smiling, turned solemn & serious, hanging his head like in prayer. "I& #39;m so sorry, Grammy. I& #39;m so so sorry. You know my son Beau died of cancer. As a parent, you should never have to even think of one day burying a child. It& #39;s a nightmare." /12
"I promise you. I& #39;m going to do everything I can to help you," VP Biden went on, talking about his moonshot effort. He stepped away, speaking personally with her about sitting in a hospital room with a sick child, about pain. I could hear her choking up on the phone. /13
The VP took his notebook & wrote something down. "I& #39;m giving Amanda my personal home phone number. You need anything, you call me. You& #39;re in the DC area, right? I& #39;ll come to the hospital & sit with you. Anything." /14
He handed it to me, and @schultzohio looked over my shoulder, confirming for me it was legit (& kindly asking me not to post it on the internet, a request I& #39;ll keep.) The VP kept talking to Grammy for a little while - maybe 20 minutes in total. /15
Then the VP handed me my phone back. "Your Grammy is a strong woman. I& #39;m so sorry about your aunt. Please: Anything I can do. Anything." He gave me more staff contact info, and said good-byes. I was stunned. I thanked him, and a few minutes later, he left. /16
Less than five months later, my aunt Michelle died of colon cancer. VP Biden sent my Grammy a beautiful and heartfelt condolence letter. He also sent one to my uncle, who he& #39;d never spoken to. It meant so much to them. /17
Grammy still talks about the call & that letter. She notes how much it meant to her to have her pain seen and heard. "He& #39;s a genuinely nice man," she says. "He just gets it." Her grief (and my family& #39;s grief) mattered to him, and he understood how to relate to it. /18
Our entire country is grieving -- hundreds of thousands of people have literally lost loved ones, millions more are grieving the futures they had planned, the weddings & careers & dreams that are no longer viable. Joe Biden viscerally understands how that grief feels. /19
Part of rebuilding the country after Trump will be politics & policies -- but just as big a job will be refinding our nation& #39;s emotional stability, or what the VP calls our "soul." We& #39;re all going through trauma. Our next president needs to be the one helping us heal. /20
VP Biden can do that. He& #39;ll help us all grieve. Joe Biden will see our pain, respect it, empathize with it, and help transform it. That& #39;s why I& #39;m glad & excited to vote this fall -- not just against Trump but genuinely for Joe Biden. /21
Thanks for bearing with this long thread. After my aunt died, my family set up the Michelle Benaim Memorial Fund at the @CCAlliance. A donation is always appreciated. /end https://www.ccalliance.org/patient-family-support/michelle-benaim-memorial-fund">https://www.ccalliance.org/patient-f...
Lots of beautiful responses & kind words -- but this is my favorite one. https://www.ccalliance.org/patient-family-support/michelle-benaim-memorial-fund">https://www.ccalliance.org/patient-f...
