Good morning District 27. On Wednesday I had the pleasure of visiting Gwen Ward at her apartment at the Senior Housing here in Martin and got a yard sign up. Gwen is knocking on the door of 90 (Born in July 1935). Gwen is one of many seniors who is supporting my campaign for state senate. As a matter of fact, Gwen was the 100th person who signed my nominating petition back in January of this year. She was cleaning her oven when I stopped by. She said she needed some oven cleaner so we went for a ride to pick up her mail from the post office and then drove to the local grocery store to get the oven cleaner. She is no longer able to drive and remains confined to her apartment unless someone picks her up or she makes an appointment with a taxi driver to pick her up to do her errands, which can be a challenge she says.
When I showed up she was sporting her fancy cowboy boots and wearing a pair of blue jeans, much like when she was a young gal riding on her horse back in the day. She had her hearing aids turned up loud enough that I could hear my voice being picked up when I spoke to her. I had never noticed before, but she has Black Hills gold leaves around the rims of her eyeglasses. I noticed on her bulletin board in her kitchen that she still had hanging the post card that I had sent to her before the June 4th Primary.
When I am around Gwen, she has no problem speaking her mind. Her favorite word is "hi" surrounded by the letters s and t, respectively. She embodies that independent American spirit. She is not going to let anyone prohibit her from speaking up. I admire Gwen’s fighting spirit. For those of you who know her personally, she has had a tough life and has lost several children, including a baby girl that did not survive after she was born.
On Friday, Gwen called me and asked if I wanted to stop by her apartment to show me the photo of the first parade that she participated in back on July 3, 1949. As some of you may recall from the Bennett County High School homecoming parade on September 20th, Gwen was riding shotgun in my vehicle and a volunteer (Irene Saunders) drove the vehicle while I walked behind the flatbed trailer passing out campaign literature and threw out my mini flying discs to the people that lined Main Street and First Avenue. Gwen called me after the homecoming parade was over and thanked me for allowing her to ride in the parade. She said that the homecoming parade was the second parade that she had ever been in and wanted me to know how much it meant to her.
Over the years, I have gotten to know Gwen while attending mass at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church here in Martin. Gwen used to come up to the Bennett County Nursing Home, when she was still able to drive, and partake in the communion service while Irene and I distribute communion and pray the rosary with the residents. Gwen took immediate interest in my campaign when I made my official announcement in the Bennett County Booster (October 4, 2023, Edition). She tracked me down and wanted to know who I was running against. She wished me all the best in my campaign and told me that she would support my campaign by voting for me.
Though there are 33 years that separate us in age, I find we have more in common than not. Gwen and I both grew up in rural settings. Gwen was raised on a ranch east of Martin and I was raised on a small family farm north of Yankton. I always kid Gwen I hope she doesn’t hold it against me that I grew up East River. Also, both of us graduated from colleges in Rapid City. Gwen graduated from St. John's McNamara School of Nursing in 1980, and I graduated from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in 1991. From there, both of us became public servants. Gwen served as a nurse in the Indian Health Service at the Phoenix Indian Medical Center and later on at the Wanblee Health Center and I likewise began my public service career in the Indian Health Service as an engineer serving the people living on the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona and later on finishing my public service career on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota where I continued to engineer sanitation facilities for the tribe. Gwen mentioned that her grandfather was the first county commissioner for Bennett County. Likewise, my father served as a manager of NFO collection points in Nebraska and South Dakota. She then shared with me that she has previously served on the Oglala Sioux Tribe’s Tribal Council, and I am currently seeking office for South Dakota State Senate. In some respects, I have also discovered that Gwen and I share that same fighting spirit for truth and righteousness. So as one can see, when one takes the times to get to know another person, we often find that we have a lot more in common than not.
I share this story with you because I have always had an appreciation for our seniors. Throughout my life, I have always gravitated towards an older generation of people. I am not sure if it’s because I find that they have more life experiences that I am attracted to or what. Even when I was in college, I surrounded myself with non-traditional students that were older in age. Growing up I had no problem talking with my grandparents and learning about their past. I took great interest in learning how hard of a life they had, but seldom did I hear how bad it was. Sure, there were tough times, but what I noticed is that the older generation is more sociable, outgoing, and happier because they didn’t have all the technology that we have today. In other words, they had to create their own form of entertainment and that meant socializing with other people which is how God created us – to be social human beings interacting with one another. Back in the day, our communities were closely knit together and everyone had to learn to get along. They knew their neighbors and they weren’t as mobile of a society as we are now. Families would visit one another, typically on a Sunday because stores were closed. Cousins would gather and play together. People took care of one another despite their political differences and the nation was not nearly as polarized as it is today, which leads me to my final point of this story.
All of us can spend some time with a senior learning about the past and how difficult times were. From the past we can gain an appreciation that our crosses we carry today are not as burdensome. Think of all the medical and technological advances that have been made since Gwen was born back in 1935. Those medical advances perhaps could have saved her baby girl. Moreover, it is from the past, that as a society, we can move forward based on what we have learned from past generations. For example, we have a whole generation of young adults who don’t know what it was like to grow up in an era where there was a World War and political regimes that advocated for the genocide of a whole human race. These stories need to be shared with the next generation of leaders so that the same mistakes are not repeated. In essence, each generation has a duty and an obligation to pass on to the next living generation what they have experienced and learned. Gwen shared with me many details of her past that probably most people have never heard of. I appreciated her desire to share her past with me though it can make some people uncomfortable and put them in a vulnerable position. However, I learned more about the woman behind the name, and I am forever grateful for having her support my campaign and to have had the opportunity to learn more about the history of one of Bennett County's senior members. Enjoy your Sunday. God bless.
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