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NURSE TERI'S ADVENTURES IN DENVER

As promised, here is my report from the DNC Convention. I arrived on Tuesday, August 26th. Each day had its own set of highlights, andtoday I met my hostess, a nurse activist, and her husband, 4 year old son and 6 year old daughter. School was just starting and it was a lot of fun to see the first grader routine in action. After settling in and having a lovely dinner, it was off to my first event, Democracy for America's party! Many of you will recognize Jim Dean, a gracious host and leader extraordinaire!! We just missed seeing Representative Jeff Merkley and the Oregon contingent of delegates. Rep. Merkley is running for the US Senate here in Oregon and was in Denver awaiting his big night on the convention stage.
Please check out his website http://jeffmerkley.com for more information about his campaign.



Then it was off to bed for a quick 5 hours of sleep (that would have been more, but I got confused with my time zones, and accidentally set the alarm for 5 am, LOL. For those of you who know me personally, you will recognize my ineptness with numbers.

August 27th proved to be a huge day with a lot of walking. My hostess and I made a dash into downtown Denver, parking the car in Sunken Gardens Park for an afternoon rally. Parking was impossible next to the Pepsi Center, and we needed to head to the Hyatt for a SEIU Nurse Alliance breakfast meeting. It was awesome hearing the great work nurses representing Colorado, Iowa, New York, Washington DC, Oregon, and Wisconsin are doing to improve healthcare access/affordability for all Americans. I was honored to be included at an SEIU healthcare event that featured four governors, many US Senators, members of Congress, and special guests. Below is a picture of me with SEIU President Andy Stern and my hostess.



After the healthcare event, we walked quickly to the park, and set up tables and booths for the healthcare rally. Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (IL-9) stopped by and had a round table with several dozen nurses. I had an opportunity to share the Office of the National Nurse initiative http://nationalnurse.org with dozens of rally participants and also was interviewed six times for radio stations, newspapers, and journals.



Of course, the highlight of the week was being able to attend Barack Obama's acceptance speech at Mile High Stadium, and they aren't kidding about the mile high part.  We stood in line for over two hours so by the time we reached the stadium, I wasn't paying attention to all the escalators we rode to reach our section.  When we walked out to the seats, and up several more rows, it gave the feeling we were about to fall off a cliff.  Thankfully, I was in between two very understanding nurses who both assured me that I had not wasted my ticket and that eventually I would be able to look forward and down, instead of sideways and up.  One of the best speeches of the night (besides Obama's) was that of Governor Bill Richardson who had the place rocking and rolling almost as much as Cheryl Crow and Stevie Wonder.  



After the end of the convention, all 84,000 of us poured into downtown Denver. It was truly a celebration and I am so grateful I was able to take part.

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