Tim Walz is Everything I Miss About Minnesota
Kamala got this one so right!
Growing up in a conservative, rural community in Northern New York, I understood that we were always second in line. I was used to accepting our lot as Not-New-York-City and I was raised on large helpings of “don’t-get-uppity.”
From that town of twelve thousand, I moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, where I was planning to get a master’s degree and return home to practice nursing and teach. Ha! Once I got a taste of midwestern free-to-be-me-ness, I knew I wasn’t going back.
I lived in Minnesota for sixteen years. I moved there right out of nursing school and found myself in a land of freedom and respect. It took me a while to understand this crazy mix of “everyone-gets-a-slice-of-the-pie” and “mind-your-own-business.” It was a world where people mattered, and where you left your neighbors alone, but helped them when they needed you.
From running a small adolescent health clinic on the East Side of St. Paul to working in the State Health Department teaching nurses how to do child physicals, I learned that in Minnesota you put your values to work every day.
And what were those values? I was happy to know that they were aligned with my own. To my surprise and relief, I saw that:
Children matter. They deserve to eat, to be protected, to have healthcare, to be educated by caring teachers, and to have families that loved them.
Immigrants are welcome. As one of the major resettling areas for Hmong families, and later for Somali families, Minnesota taught me that it’s our American responsibility to help folks in other lands who are facing crises or extinction, and that once they are on their feet they will enrich our cities and neighborhoods. My children went to an urban school full of children of all colors and backgrounds. They loved it. I loved it. They learned so much more than the school curriculum.
Families deserve support. Minnesota had a child tax credit, which I needed while I finished school. Health care was available, and there was money set aside for families who had children with disabilities.
Education was important. I earned a Master’s Degree and did a fellowship in Adolescent Health at the University of Minnesota. I qualified for a lot of student support and graduated with zero student debt. I used every bit of that education to serve and teach others from the minute I graduated until I left the state.
We help each other. There was a mentality of minding your own business, but helping when it counted. Whether it was getting your tractor out of a ditch, or snow-blowing your sidewalk when you had the flu, neighbors pitched in.
We find solutions that work. As a government employee for many years there, I was in countless meetings and on many committees. Unlike anywhere else I’ve ever lived, there was no “planning to plan” time-wasting jockeying for position and spending hours talking about how to approach an issue. Instead, there was a refreshing roll-your-sleeves-up, “let’s get this party started” vibe. We created solutions that worked for the population we were serving. Not showy “cutting edge” solutions that got attention, but bottom-line actions that made a difference in as little time as possible. It was a joy, and I always felt like the team got ‘er done.
We don’t pretend. I miss the plain-spoken calling out of bulls%t that was the norm. No fancy pantsy talking around an issue. We could disagree, but we weren’t in the business of sugar-coating our ideas with deceit or double talk. And we somehow managed to stay civil and good-natured, even when we had vastly differing opinions.
We have fun, but not at other people’s expense. Minnesota is the Bob Newhart of states. There was a self-deprecating quality that kept things light, and yet kept them real at the same time. (See “We don’t pretend” above.)
Nothing reminds me of that “Minnesota Sensibility” that I miss so much as seeing Tim Walz as the vice president nominee. This guy is the perfect combination of those Midwestern values that line up with mine. He’s served in the military, taught school, raised a family, spent years in the legislature, and governed a state. Not too shabby as qualifications to represent us all.
I expect he will bring that Minnesota “roll-your-sleeves-up-and-get-something-done” practicality to the office of Vice President. He will look for solutions that serve the common good. He will see people from across the aisle and across the globe as neighbors and fellow human beings. How refreshing!
He’s not going to put up with any right-wing shenanigans, and he’s going to call out bullshit as he sees it. He’s going to lead by example, without getting a big head.
Imagine a country where children don’t go hungry and people treat each other with respect. Where we can laugh at ourselves and still get things done. Where we can face our problems and find working solutions, and where we find the balance of being kind to each other and leaving each other alone — to live our lives as we see fit without hurting each other.
I miss Minnesota. My kids missed it when we moved West. I like to think Tim Walz will give the whole country a taste of that Minnesota groundedness that opened my eyes to possibility so many years ago.
Kudos Kamala! You picked the right guy for these times.
Kudos Tim! Show everyone how things can go right for a change.
Time for me to get my yard sign? You betcha!!
