My Mittxperience

Well,

I guess now is as good a time as any to share my Mittxperience. Perhaps you've heard it.. can't remember who I have shared it with, or if I ever shared it widely... truth is I have been waiting for just the right moment to share... that is, when kids are asleep, clothing is folded... house is in generally acceptable repair and I wouldn't rather stare at the TV. It just so happens that Mitt also had a good night on the campaign trail... a perfect recipe as it were, for a telling (or retelling) of my story. Mind you, it is not unlikely that you'll hear it again if Mitt is elected President, or even he is the Republican nominee. I feel I should share it now however because after this recent close call for Mitt, who knows if my story will be relevant in the near future. I had some stories (and even a picture for Jon Huntsman Jr. to hedge my bets.. but look where that got me) I do not have even the slightest speck of a story about Rick Santorum... so here goes:
In August of 2009, Annie and I were enjoying a lovely and relaxing week on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire.. thats right the same Lake where Bob patronizes Dr. Leo Marvin in the movie What About Bob. Great place. Just what you would imagine. Annie's Aunt and Uncle own a home right on the water. It is a fairytale of a place to stay and we look forward to any chance to go. The whole Barlow (Annie's maiden name) bunch was there and we were having an extraordinary time relaxing, swimming, fishing, boating, kayaking, etc. Perhaps the most popular attraction was a gigantic inflatable waterslide that Annie's Uncle had had installed. This thing ran a good 30 yards down the shoreline slope and spilled into the lake. It was a pretty epic good time.
So the stage is set. One sunny afternoon, most of us were relaxing near the shoreline. I think we were fishing and taking turns on the jet skis. Off in the distance a boat was approaching. This is not uncommon, Annie has several family members and other friends with homes who drop in occasionally. We watched for a familiar face. As the boat drew close a familiar face appeared indeed. I remember saying "Holy crap, its Mitt Romney!" "What!? NO!" the others said, but I was sure of it, his face had been plastered around enough that there was no doubt of it (even from a distance). He docked and jumped off of the boat and introduced himself, "HI, I'm Mitt Romney" "Uh yeah.. Duh!" I remember thinking to myself, but what is he supposed to say "Hi... I'm pretty sure you know who I am!" Anyway, the Romney crew had stopped in to check out "the slide" apparently an object of local lore and legend. I was put on the task of inflating the thing (that is, turning the generators on and making sure the thing inflated properly). For the next 40 minutes Mitt Romney was the CEO of that waterslide. Never had there been such order, such purpose and oneness on that slide. He was really fun about it and it was a sort of out of body experience for me. I remember my brother-in-law kept repeating to himself.. "we are shirtless and watersliding with Mitt freaking Romney," while another bro-in-law tried to figure out how to get a letter of recommendation to law school in the midst of the action (I don't think it worked out, though he probably still mentioned it in his law school applications). Then just as soon as he had appeared he was again gone... sailing off with his family into the Winnipesaukee Sunset. Whoa.
So that's my story. The take home lesson? Not sure. I guess whenever I hear Mitt Romney being attacked or whenever he is in a tight one, I find myself cheering him on. Not because his politics are necessarily perfectly aligned with my own, and only slightly because I would cheer on any Mormon taking punches because of his belief system. No, I think mostly its because I just can't get over how human and down to earth he was that afternoon. I wish him well in the remaining primaries and hope his message and position are at least heard, understood and considered with an open mind. What more could one wish for an old water sliding buddy?!