My mother Lee Snodgrass ran for State Senate District 19 in the 2018 Midterms.

I didn’t understand the gravity of the situation initially, my mother gets excited like the rest of us. I remember her walking up the stairs at a pace a little to fast to be considered normal, it gave me time to prepare, although I didn’t know what for. I could have guessed, I knew she was determined to make change; she was determined since the 2016 election. She was determined by her action as Democratic Party Chair of Outagamie County. She was determined to do, not to talk. When my mom reached my room she explained she had been asked to run for State Senate.

I was always the first to hear anything and everything. I was just always there and my mother was exuberant with joy, worry and excitement that needed to be expressed. That general sentiment carried through as a theme of our newly found relationship.

This was the beginning of course. As the process continued I was surprised to discover how structured of a system running for office was, my mother got support from the SCDC, she got a campaign manager, she wasn’t alone. Not once was she alone in this process from what I was privy to, and that is where I saw the true beauty in the past four months. Our fridge resembled a half finished game of jenga, with foreign tupperware filled with food made with unknown love. It made me feel like my mother was safe, that If I wasn’t there everyone else had her in their arms.

I gained a new respect for my mother I could never have known before my mother’s journey.