10 more things I bet Romney doesn’t know…

So apparently, way back in 2004, Mitt Romeny is on record saying “I didn’t know you had families,” to the LGBT parents standing in his office.  You can read one blogger’s take on this (unsurprising) stone-cold ignorance.

Thinking this over (while enjoying a fried chicken and collard greens lunch at work) a few things came to mind that I bet Romney doesn’t know.

Here’s 10 I came up with, what 10 would you like Mittens to know?

10. That I drive my family around in a nearly decade-old, American-made minivan (and that growing up my dad put food on our table, a roof over our head and paid his taxes as a union-member iron worker while my mom stayed home and took care of us kids.  Aaaannnnd, that while a brain tumor was killing my mamma the medical bills nearly killed my father).

10.1 [updated 9/13/12 as I thought more about this post] That because of the way I was raised I have lived into a particular kind of family rhythm that includes waking up early enough (4 am many weekdays) so I can get a little work done before waking the kids up early enough to help them get ready for school.  We make fresh breakfast, have conversations and work together to prepare healthy lunches for everyone to take on their day.  Our days also include sitting down at a dinner table in the evening around healthy meals that we plan and shop for on Sunday and prepare each night with fresh ingredients and a dash or two of love.  Oh yeah, and we like to say a blessing before we eat too.  Sounds a little Rockwellian when I type it out but guess what Mitt, that is just a slice of our family’s values.

9.  That I shop at locally owned small businesses (and eschew big-box, mammon worshipping corporations that put profits over people).

8. That I helped build a public charter school in the inner city of Atlanta (because I believe in locally run, innovative public schools that value critical thinking over inane regurgitation).

7. That I read my bible (and I take it seriously because I don’t take it literally).

6. That I go to church (and love my neighbors who go to temples, mosques, woodland hikes, funky coffee shops and pub patios on their holy days).

5. That I pray (and believe that God knows with infinite compassion but does not behave like a cosmic vending machine).

4. That my wife and our daughters are the center of my universe (and that love makes a family).

3. That I am sometimes afraid (for my children, my wife, my self and my community).

2. That I pay taxes (and expect that my rights as a citizen to be equal to those of of non-gay citizens).

1. That I vote