REMEMBERING ANN RICHARDS

 She was about two hours late to our regional meeting of United Cerebral Palsy Associations in Denver in the mid-'70s. I was in my mid 20's and had begun working for the national organization of UCPA a year before this meeting, a job that took me to numerous cities and small towns in the United States for 11 years.

Ann Richards had not been a Travis County Commissioner for very long but had been politically active for years in the Democratic Party. She was a board member of the United Cerebral Palsy Association of Texas, hence Ann's attendance at the regional meeting.

Her late arrival into the room at 10 AM, did not go unnoticed.   Ann had an undeniable aura that lit up any room she entered. As she sat down next to me, it was immediately apparent that she was intoxicated. However, that didn't deter her.   She knew exactly what was discussed at the meeting and offered many great suggestions. What was more noticeable about her was her humor. I've never been around anyone as quick-witted as Ann was. I fell in love immediately. I wanted to be just like Ann.

As the years passed, I learned that her family staged an intervention. Ann went into rehab and became a recovering alcoholic. She never touched another drink.

In the early '80s, I was a delegate at the Texas Democratic State Convention. Ann had just been elected Texas Treasurer. At one of the meetings, she announced, "I'm going to be the next God-damned female governor of Texas."  You couldn't help but believe that this would happen. Ann was magical. You just knew she was one of those forces of nature that cannot be avoided. Even sober, Ann never lost that faster-than-lightning wit.

I served on a campaign committee in the Dallas area when Ann ran for Governor. We worked tirelessly to ensure that she was elected. One of Ann's campaign controversies was her refusal to state whether she smoked marijuana. When we asked Ann's son-in-law why she wouldn't just answer the question, he told us that it wouldn't stop with the questions and that they'd just keep digging and badgering Ann about other issues irrelevant to the office of the Governor. One has to wonder, of course, if other drugs were involved, but that's water under the proverbial bridge and doesn't matter now.

There was tremendous support for Ann to be our Governor, but the incident that propelled her to a win was her opponent, Clayton Williams, and his inability to keep his mouth shut. One evening, while sitting around the campfire with the 'good ole' boys' and reporters, it looked like the skies were turning nasty. Being his usual pig-self, "Claytie" compared the weather to rape by commenting, "If it's inevitable, just relax and enjoy it."   Nevertheless, multitudes of women and the men who respected them voted for Ann. Others voted for her because she earned it, regardless of Clayton's behavior.

My young daughter, Marcy, and I were proud to be invited and attend her inauguration in Austin. Many years later, our next trip to the Texas Capitol steps would be in March of 2017. Marcy, my two grandbabies, and I participated in the Women's March on Austin along with almost 100,000 kindred spirits. As I looked out at the massive crowd, I started crying. I couldn't believe, after all these years, that we were again fighting for women's rights and that the country had elected a President that was blatant in his misogyny, racism, and corruption.

Ann didn't have her head in the game for the next gubernatorial election. She had fought the good fight long and hard. The tediousness of dealing with a state beginning to turn Republican was probably extremely frustrating. It was time for something new.

Marcy and I traveled to NYC about seven years ago to see the play "Ann." We were mesmerized as Holland Taylor brilliantly channeled Ann Richards. Watching the play was bittersweet, as realizing she no longer walks this earth leaves a massive hole in our hearts.

Ann left us in 2006, but her spirit remains a part of many people's lives in Texas, especially the women I've encountered since my return to Texas for the past four years. The winds of change are now upon us. Women emboldened to get active after Trump's election in November 2016 are making that change. Most of us are furious at the Republican-led Texas legislature focusing on ridiculous topics such as where people go to the bathroom, critical race theory, the possession of guns without a permit, and their non-support of our educational system and teachers. And finally, their desire to control women's bodies, thus keeping women subjugated. We've come too far to go back now.

"If anyone asks you, 'Are Texas women badass?' you just answer with, 'Hold my purse and watch this,'" Congressional candidate Kim Olson once said while gesturing as if pulling a lever in a voting booth. Ann would have loved Kim Olson and all of us who came after Ann. As John Lewis told us, "Get in trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America." And Texas sorely needs our help to redeem its soul.