UCLA Med Center's Dr. Francisco Durazo,Chief Hepatology/UCLA Liver Transpnt Phonebanks 4 Bernie!

[amborin]

https://www.laprogressive.com/californians-really-feel-the-bern/

When Senator Bernie Sanders smiled at me with sparkling eyes, shook my hand, and said, “Thank you” yesterday it felt nothing short of synchronicity and serendipity. His rally had just ended and literally moments before I had concluded from the experiences I had had that day, the theme of my next article would be something about gratitude, happiness, and virtue.

agard bern 1Like most of Sanders’ fans my family has watched his rallies online, feeling cheated and furious that his message was not being televised. My husband, Dr. Francisco Durazo, is UCLA’s Chief of Hepatology, Medical Director of the Dumont-UCLA Liver Transplant Center, physician in Hepatology and Transplant Hepatology, Professor of Medicine, Surgery, and was the President of Southern California Society of Gastroenterology. He’s received the Best Doctors award several years in a row.

But I see a different side to him than most. Though he works at one of the best hospitals in the world, there is a long waiting list for patients to see him. He comes home frustrated with insurance companies and saddened about the cost of health care and the cost that has on people’s lives. He spent fourteen years in medical school and training because he loves helping people, but many patients struggle to keep up with their medical care due to high copays and even parking fees.

Rather than dwelling on the disgust he felt when he discovered Hillary Clinton had charged UCLA, a public university, $300,000 for a speech two years ago, he came to me and said, “I’m just so thankful we have a man like Sanders. I just want to focus on that and do something in return.” That was the day my family signed up to volunteer phone-bank in Spanish for Bernie.

His new Saturday activity has reaped benefits on many levels. “I’ve become engaged in American politics for the first time since becoming an American citizen three decades ago. I’m making phone calls to Spanish-speaking Californians, not as a doctor, but simply as a volunteer citizen and that makes me feel more tethered to the Latino community. And I’ve been able to use the experience to teach my step-son, who doesn’t have Spanish in school and who feels that talking about politics is somewhat frowned upon in class.”

agard bern 452My 73-year-old mother has also become deeply involved in the revolution, teaching me as she always has, how important it is to imbue your life with meaning and purpose. She’s spent the year spreading the bern through twitter. Though she’s had several hip and knee replacements in recent years, she’d become nothing short of desperate to see her 74-year-old hero in person. “This will be my only chance,” she kept tweeting me as he began holding rallies across Southern California that she was unable to attend alone.

When Sanders announced this week he would be stopping in rural Ventura County, which seemed like it might have the most stress-free access for someone fresh out of surgery, I transferred my mother’s handicap placard from her car to mine and drove her down the coast from Sherman Oaks—only to find a field of 10,000 people, filled with multigenerational families telling story after story not so different from mine.
Danielle and her mother-in-law, Mary.

Danielle and her mother-in-law, Mary.

Mary (69) said, “I appreciate Bernie’s values. His virtues. He’s a peacemaker. Honest. I talk to my children and my grandchildren about it all the time.” She’s been involved with politics her entire adult life, but her daughter-in-law, Danielle (26), grew up in a family that never really talked about politics, other than watching Fox news.

“I wasn’t political,” Danielle, who is expecting another child this year, said. “My mom always voted Republican but we never really talked about it. But Mary is very political. Through our relationship, I’ve become more interested and over time have gained my own opinion. Trump says he wants to make America great, but I believe Bernie is the only one who’s doing what it is that can do that. Now I talk about these things with my six-year-old. And my mom, too. I’m grateful for that.”

[bjo59]

1. A great read. Thank you!

[silvershadow]

2. K&R! Thanks!