Grandma, Medicine, The Mob & Freedom

August 8th, 2009 | By Sonnie Johnson

I have one conception that stays relevant in my mind, if I ever need to go home, Grandma has a roof for my head, food for my daughter, and uplifting words to get me back on my feet. Does this make her an ideal candidate for any medical service she needs? I mean, she is the rock and corner stone of our family, the reason we make sure to gather the grand kids together multiple times a year. Will Medical Boards consider this when deciding if she should get a new hip or medicine for her cataracts.

What about her contributions to the church, will they count? I mean, she is the first one to the church on Sunday morning and the last one to leave when the entire church is clean and ready for the next service. She never misses a revival or a special event at one of our sister churches, does this put her in the get help category? She tithes her full 10% every week, even if it means she can’t go on a specific trip or play bingo on a specific night.

I’m not finished yet. My grandfather passed 10 years ago, but I got to hear his story before he died. He grew up in Midlothian, Virginia, with confederate flags and good ole’ boys that made his life hell. So, he bought a house right in the middle of all their land and is still owned by my family today. Then he married a black woman whose family also owned land right in the heart of the racist. And they had five children, who weren’t afraid to go to the newly desegregated schools because they had Daddy right beside them with a gun. I can’t tell the story like my Grandmother can. Are her memories and ability to share those stories with my daughter when she is old enough to understand worth giving her medicine to ward of dementia?

Forget all that, she is my Grandmother. She gave me the love of reading and problem solving. She gave me compassion and a true sense of what God can do in your life. She gave me morals, values, and the discipline to follow both. She gave me the best Candied Yams and Sweet Potato Pie I ever tasted. Now, she reads to my daughter, corrects her behavior with an authoritative tone I have yet to master, and she still cooks for me just because I ask. She worked her whole life and in her old age she should not have to go to a Doctor and have a talk about how she wants to die.

You would think President Obama would understand that this is the source of most of the outrage in America. When he was on the campaign trail invoking memories of his Grandmother’s last days, he wasn’t talking about her lack of care. He wasn’t talking about how she was refused medicine or turned away for service. He wasn’t complaining about how her doctor told her that it would better for her to die than to spend a couple hours filling out health insurance forms.

This leads me to question, WHY? Why would Obamacare want to limit the number of elderly in America? Just look at what Grandma’s and Grandpa’s do for us. The number of Grandparents as head of house continue to increase in America, almost doubling in the last 15 years. These are primary caregivers for a lot minority children. If the grandparents weren’t there, these kids would become wards of the state. Would that make it easier to force mandatory volunteerism, I mean, they already have the downtrodden on the actual government role.

Or maybe it’s to correct the mistake of one of America’s most Liberal Presidents, Franklin D. Roosevelt. It’s hard to push for more entitlements when Social Security is going broke. There are more baby boomers than there are people to pay into the system and some how the inadequate health care in America is keeping them alive longer. How do we fix this? Maybe we get rid of the baby boomers. You know, kill two birds with one stone. Gain total control over the government and be able to say “look we saved Social Security”, even if you’ll probably die before you can collect it.

I think the true intent is shown in the response to the opposition to healthcare overhaul.

Grandparents, especially minorities, remember what it’s like to live with no true freedom. They remember the true MOBS. They remember torches that burned down churches, noose’s that hung actual flesh, and words, that could not be excused by “sticks and stones”, because they were placed in the rule of law. Our grandparents remember signs that read “White only” and no matter what side they were on, they can remember the feeling of separation that caused.

So, maybe they don’t want anyone to connect the dots when the healthcare mandate is different for those close to power, when the list reads “Politically connected only” or “Because you Contributed”. They don’t want us to stand up and fight like our Grandparents did. They don’t want us to refuse to let the Government tell us what doctor we can see and which procedure we can’t have. They don’t want us to think we have a choice in the matter. So when Grandma says, “I remember when the government didn’t have access to your bank account”, we can reply, “she crazy, I’m glad we didn’t spend that extra money to get her prescription filled.”

The liberals have started going after our children through school textbooks, but all that can be washed away by a single summer spent with a Grandmother or Grandfather. Victimization could be wiped out with true stories of what it takes to get to the American Dream; hard work, determination, focus, and faith. See how none of that involves Government. That’s the problem. Government wants to get into every area of your life but first they have to take care of the people who choose to be independent because it’s all they know. They’ve spent their entire lives taking care of themselves and now the have to yield control over their lives to a board that doesn’t have a clue what they mean to their family, community, or to the youth that needs the influence of someone that’s been there and done that.

Or maybe it’s just cost effective to let Grandma die and save a 20 year old. Maybe, as Americans, we place too high a value on unconditional love for our family. Maybe we should take a poll. How many Americans would kill Grandma right now if it meant healthcare would pass?