Meeting in the parking lot
Is this your brand on Milled? Claim it.
My name’s Matthew and I’m a volunteer with Powered by People based in Houston.
I had a really moving encounter with a Texas transplant last weekend and I wanted to share what happened with you:
We were trying something new and going to an apartment complex to interact with voters. My findings were that I had much more success talking to people in the parking lots than on their doorstep (maybe I am too intimidating ).
Anyway, I approached an older woman who had just parked and asked her if she had a moment to talk.
If I am being honest, I had some misgivings about her. She seemed put out, but said she could give me a minute. I told her about the raffle for an HEB card that we were doing for anyone who checked their voter registration.
Begrudgingly she admitted that she "should get registered to vote." She had bad eyesight, so I helped read the form to her so she could fill it out.
In the space between those moments, we started to talk.
She told me about how she had moved to Texas to help take care of her brother and sister-in-law who had since passed away.
She told me about how she was from California and that she was devastated by what was happening in the country.
At some point, I introduced myself and she asked me if I knew what my name meant. Having gone to Catholic school for 10 years of my life, I told her that I did, that it meant "gift from God" and laughed about how that can be a lot of pressure to aspire to. She then proceeded to tell me that her son had been named Matthew, but had also passed away about 4 or 5 years ago (he was about my age now, when he passed).
She said that it was the memory of her son and how upset he was about the "Cheeto Bandito" that inspired her to register to vote with me. We spent another 10 minutes or so trading quotes about the value of being stoic in the face of adversity and the importance of community.
At the end she gave me a hug, thanked me for helping her, and told me that this random conversation in a parking lot today with a stranger was a "gift from God." I'm not crying, you're crying 🥹.
I'm sharing this because I want you to know exactly what your support makes possible.
I showed up that day because Powered by People gave me the training, the tools, and the community to do this work.
Thank you,
Matthew
