I grew up in a trailer on my grandparents' farm. When my brother was born, the family built a toy room onto the back porch because we were outgrowing it.

My mother was a government teacher, my father worked in retail management - which meant long hours and low pay. After my brother was born my mother could no longer work due to mental illness. We were very humble and managed to get by.

Dad's parents were a union worker and lunch lady. Grandad put his family first and crossed the line to put food on the table when he had to. He also put a lock on his gas tank when the union workers were pouring sand or sugar into gas tanks of those who crossed the picket line. Grandma had a cellar full of canned goods and made all her meals from scratch just as they did at the schools back then. Meals were tasty, wholesome, and bountiful and nothing went to waste. Leftovers were recrafted and born again into something as good as or better than its original state. Neither were very political. Grandad served as a cook in WWII and I don't remember him talking politics. He was more concerned with family, game shows, weekend wrestling on TV, and his loyal dog. Grandma was always tending to family, usually in the kitchen and listening to gospel on the radio. Never heard her comment on politics, either, with the exception of stating that she didn't understand the situation in Granada. They were happy people who had each other, their family, and church community.

Mom's parents were dairy farmers. Grandad managed the farm and grandma managed the house. Without a lot of "things," it was great to grow up with family and lots of land to explore. Grandad left the work of the farm to my uncle and hired help, while he worked for the dairymen's association - which wasn't much more than self governance and a lobby for dairy interests. Without his hands on the farm, it eventually dried up as my uncle never learned how to run a farm business properly. Mom's family were and are (aside from my mother) stern Democrats. Being a government teacher she was more pragmatic and objective in her view of politics than the rest of her family.

Being a faithful person, I've always felt that who you are is based on a foundation of beliefs - beliefs that over time become the bedrock of your life and the way you live it, becoming your guiding values. I've never put politics into that foundation. I've always looked at the conclusions that I've come to issue by issue, and supported those who most closely resemble those shared values. I used to be able to find leaders from either party that were a suitable match. Today, that's becoming more difficult to do. I remain independent of party and have refused register with either party since 2001. I backed Bill Clinton against Bush when I was in college. I was challenging my foundations, questioning my beliefs at the time. Not long after, I came back to my center and by the end of his tenure regretted the decision to back him. Of all the deception and lies, I realized the most egregious of all were those I brought onto myself. That I had become unfaithful to my very foundation and core, and the beliefs that have stood the test of time and challenge. I realized all that I had to cast aside and ignore when I turned away from the values and foundation that gives firm ground. I had not been honest to myself or to logic. I had been driven with emotion without foundation.

Watching the teeter totter of extremists springing up on each side in response to one another is nothing I could have imagined growing up. We now have adult children who will not accept no for an answer, who will not accept losing a fight. I'll remain independent. I am libertarian socially and conservative economically. There's no party or candidate that fits my foundation of beliefs. I'll keep looking and voting for the closest to what I value, even if it seems to become more difficult by the day. It's no wonder so many people don't even bother to vote. They're happy and want to stay that way by not letting politics become their religion.

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