07/10/11

In the autumn of 2003, General Wesley Clark, battling for the Democratic Presidential nomination, and Mo, battling the 'recurrence' of his brain cancer*, crossed paths.  General Clark was on a campaign swing through Wisconsin and through the efforts of Grandma Shari and Barbara Lawton (Lt Gov. at the time), he heard about Mo (who was a very political person) and generously took a few minutes out of his day to give him a call.  It was quite a thrill for Mo.  After the call, Mo wrote this:

While I spoke with General Wesley Clark, my dad recorded me talking to him. He is a very kind man. The questions I had for him were: what he was going to do with Iraq, where would he get the money for improving health care and education, and I asked him if he plans to do something about pollution. Wesley Clark thinks that wind power is a good idea and that he may try it out. I told him that I’m glad he would support health care and that I am undergoing chemo therapy. I told him that when I’m done with chemo I would work on his campaign.

We have a fair bit of video of Mo.  I have occasionally watched snippets, but it has generally been difficult.  Now it is finally time to watch them.  Here is the video of Mo's conversation with Wesley Clark on 11/28/03 (one side of it anyway).  While editing it, I was reminded of so many nuances of Mo - details that only a video can contain.  Most of the time it is easy to figure out what General Clark had asked Mo.  At one point, when Mo says "fifth, actually" he was referring to being in fifth grade.
Enjoy this memory of the gentle, socially concerned Mo.
You don't know what you've got 'till its gone…