Inspirations come in all shapes and sizes. Today, I listened to first lady Michelle Obama give a speech that hugely inspired me. Her speech made me stop to think about my current situation. Her words resonated well with me because it was as if she were talking to me directly.
I sat a few feet away from the first lady as she said, “President Obama wants to help make college affordable for all Americans.” As fate would have it, the first lady gave her speech at Arapahoe High School, which is the high school my daughter graduated from in 2008. My daughter just graduated from Pepperdine University in last April, and I am very proud of her accomplishments, but even with a substantial scholarship, she still has a large number of loans she has to pay back. Honestly, I felt very bad because I encouraged her to attend Pepperdine, but after listening to first lady Michelle Obama, I realized I should not feel guilty for encouraging my daughter to attend a top notch university. I agree with Ms.Obama: as Americans we should not have to go into a huge amount of debt to send our children to college. College should be affordable for all who want to attend. I also think students who have completed their college in a reasonable amount of time should not have to incur a high interest rate on their student loans.
Ms.Obama made a second profound statement that jolted my thinking. This time around, I had to hold back tears as memories of my youngest son flashed back to me like neon lights. She said, “President Obama wants every American to have health insurance. No family should have to go bankrupt in order to provide emergency health care for their family.”
Again, for a second time, I concur with first lady Michelle Obama. There is nothing more terrifying than for a mother to watch her child come near death because of a medical emergency. My son’s illness was the worst curve ball ever thrown my way. If I had not had health insurance, the one night my son had to spend in the ICU would have been enough to bankrupt me. I am sure the total of nine days he was in the hospital added up very quickly.
I am glad president Obama is relentless in his desire to help make health insurance available for all Americans. The naysayers may label him a socialist, but he is only doing what should have been done a long time ago.
The words of Michelle Obama will reside in my heart and soul for a very long time. I am very fortunate that it took me five minutes to drive from my house to go listen to such inspirational words.