“What can we do? “ My 88-year-old mom hasn’t given up and neither should we.

My mom and my dad were depression babies. They married in 1951 — a time of traditional gender roles. For the most part, dad ruled the roost and made The Rules, but mom was our go-to for almost everything.

After raising two rambunctious boys and a tomboy, and taking a lot of orders from dad, the mid-70s happened. She was curious, took classes, taught ESL, read many many books, traveled more and in today’s language became “woke” to “women’s lib.” She listened to the Beatles and the Eagles. I remember a button she wore often: “The moral majority is neither.”

My dad and my mom were often sought out as leaders in Santa Clara and beyond. They were asked to endorse candidates and they became very involved, in my father’s retirement, with the school board and City Council. Mom & Dad hosted coffees and receptions and endorsed candidates and had signs on their lawn, walked precincts and made calls, all through the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. Only once did one of them vote for a Republican for President. It wasn’t mom.

Through all this, despite my dad’s relative notoriety in our community, the reality was it was my mom who was the engine of Callejon civic engagement. She was the organized one, the driver, the researcher, the communicator, the interlocutor, the canvasser, and the writer of checks.

In 2008 and 2012 Mom made calls for Barack Obama. I helped them both cast their ballots for Hillary in 2016.

The last two years have been rough for my folks — and at 88 they now live in assisted living. Mom’s been struggling with some medical and emotional setbacks the last couple of years. Dad fell last month, so I was in CA with them for almost two weeks. During that time the Kavanaugh hearings were on, my brother and I tuned in to every word.

At one point mom and I were alone and talking about how sad it is that Donald Trump and the Republican leadership are in power and that they have debased the presidency and reduced the credibility of the US Congress, respectively. They’re presiding over a terrible, ugly time in the history of a country mom and I both love dearly. We talked about how easy it is to get discouraged. But ultimately we came back around to an unwillingness to accept the status quo. “What can we do?” mom asked. So we talked…and we decided to take action.

I posted this on Facebook:

And within a couple of hours, my 88-year-old mom (ok, me with her credit card) had made small contributions to 13 women candidates, all recommended by my friends. I researched each one, and they represent a wide swath of race and ethnicity, age and geography. Some are moderate, some are more liberal. But they all are known to be pragmatic, respectful and accomplished humans. Along the way, I know we inspired some who saw my post to take action as well. I, in turn, am inspired by the enthusiasm my community brought to the effort.

Here’s the list.

At 88, she’s still feisty. The midterms are just weeks away. Join mom. Make a contribution. Make phone calls. GOTV. She’d love to know she inspired you.