An 82-year-old Texas woman voted for the first time. Then she died. November 6 at 10:53 AM When 82-year-old Gracie Lou Phillips returned fr...
November 6 at 10:53 AM
When 82-year-old Gracie Lou Phillips returned from early voting last week in North Texas, she âdanced a little jigâ around her walker, then sat down and raised her fists into the air, her family said.
âI voted!â she declared.
Until then, Phillips, from Grand Prairie, had never cast a ballot â" the result of misapprehension about voting and the belief that she didnât have a voice, her family said.
But her son-in-law, Jeff Griffith, said that in recent years, voting had become extremely important to Phillips, and she wanted to have a say in the 2018 midterm elections.
So despite being gravely ill, Phillips cast her first-ever ballot during early voting Thursday in Grand Prairie.
On Monday, she died.
Gracie Lou Phillips, 82, holds up her "I Voted" sticker after casting her ballot during early voting in Grand Prairie, Tex. (Terri Griffith)
Phillips was a beautician; her husband, Bill, worked in construction.
They had their hands full caring for seven children, and Griffith said his mother-in-law never voted because her husband, before his death a decade ago, always worried that the couple would get called for jury duty and ânot be able to make ends meet.â Plus, he did not want them to be political for fear that it might sway business, the family said.
But after watching the elections in recent years, Griffith said, his mother-in-law wanted to participate.
She registered to vote, but then she became ill with pneumonia and sepsis, Griffith said. Still, he said, while Phillips was in the hospital, she kept talking about the election.
âShe was asking, âIsnât there some way I can vote? Donât they let people vo te from the hospital?â â he said. âIt was really important to her.â He added that when she got home, âshe kept insisting.â
[A reporter unwittingly left a voice mail for a GOP candidate. She was fired for what she said.]
So Thursday afternoon, Phillips, who was in hospice care, went to the polls â" a church near her home.
Phillips, who was on oxygen, stayed in the vehicle and poll workers brought her a paper ballot, Griffith said. When she finished filling it out, he said, they clapped and cheered.
A video from her family showed Phillips sitting in the vehicle, holding a souvenir pen and a sticker.
âI voted today,â she said, reading the words printed on the seal.
But the next morning, Phillips was unable to get out of bed or to drink her morning coffee , her family said.
âShe said, âAt least I voted,â â her son-in-law recalled. âIt was one of the last coherent things she said to us."
She died just before 2 a.m. Monday, with her daughters by her side, but her vote having been logged.
âShe was very proud,â Griffith said. âShe wanted to drain the swamp. She voted straight-ticket Republican.â
He added: âShe was very happy. She kept saying she finally got to vote.â
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âWhatâs one less?â Nonvoters could have the biggest say of all.< /p>Source: Google News | Netizen 24 United States
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