January 22
by Janine Stephenson
I shouldn’t be so excited that the
Senator is coming. The election isn’t about him, but I can’t help it. It
is about him! It’s not supposed to be about him. It’s supposed to be about the
war. But I think Senator McCarthy is a groovy man.
The Senator will be making a few
stops today and tomorrow. We don’t know when he’ll be coming here. Mrs.
Stoutmiller tells us not to get our hopes up. Nothing in politics is ever
guaranteed, no matter what anyone says. So I will wait patiently today and pray
that he shows up.
We watched the Smothers Brothers last
night. I was surprised that Mrs. Stoutmiller likes the Smothers Brothers. Becca
and I love the Smothers Brothers. Becca thinks I have a crush on Tommy. Maybe I
do, but that doesn’t matter. We’ll never meet the Smothers Brothers. It’s not
like Senator McCarthy.
Sammy Davis Jr. is against the war. I
love him. I loved him before I knew he was against the war. I doubly love him
now that I know he’s against it.
This is our routine: After a long day
of stuffing envelopes, creating mailing labels and checking supplies, Mrs.
Stoutmiller brings us home. We sit in front of a wood burning stove and drink
hot chocolate. Becca asks her all sorts of dumb questions, things I would never
ask her. Last night, she asked Mrs. Stoutmiller when she lost her virginity.
Can you imagine? Mrs. Stoutmiller didn’t bat an eyelash. She looked Becca
straight in the eye and said, “What makes you think I lost it?”
I knew exactly what Mrs. Stoutmiller
meant. She didn’t lose her virginity. She purposely placed it somewhere.
