I had my own personal tsunami in Tallahassee last Tuesday.  A group of Tea Party members drove together to Tally to participate in the opening of the legislature and hold a rally on the steps the following day.  As we headed up I-10, I was coughing and hacking with my usual allergy attacks this time of year.  When we arrived in Tally, I became very ill.  I almost crawled into our hotel room and quickly climbed into bed.  Something wasn’t right.  I felt extremely fatigued and light headed.  We thought maybe I was getting the flu.  My fellow tea party friends got another room and I crawled under the covers in my own room to fight what I believed was a flu bug.  The night was not easy and the next morning, my tea party friends found me in a terrible state.  I passed out in front of them and a call to 911 was urgently made.  As they tell me now, they believed I was gone.  They could not wake me up and I was non-responsive.

A trip to the hospital showed that I was dehydrated and a sinus infection had not helped matters.   They filled me with fluids as one by one my tea party friends stayed with me in the room until my husband arrived hours later.  They missed all the Tallahassee festivities and were unable to participate in some new educational experiences.   They did it because they cared about me and did not want to leave me alone.  They said they could not think about being at the Capitol while I was in the hospital.  My fellow tea party leaders in other parts of the state picked up my responsibilities for the rally and the tea party caucus meeting and made sure everything went off without a hitch. 

I spent the rest of the week resting and healing.  Dehydration does a lot of strange things to your body and I don’t recommend it to anyone!  All is well and things are improving.  I’ll be back to my old self soon and I owe it all to my tea party friends who stood with me from beginning to end. 

Here’s the kicker.  I did not know these friends until February 2009.  Two years ago they were not a part of my world and today I can’t imagine them not being a part of my life.  The tea party has created a network of new friends across this country that will come to our rescue because we care about the same thing – Liberty.  We have a deep abiding love for each other that transcends something the Progressives cannot understand. 

In a recent interview with NBC's Meet the Press, Harry Reid said that the conservative political movement known as the Tea Party will "disappear" when the nation's financial troubles stabilize. He said the economy is steadily improving and that will spell the demise of the Tea Party.  I beg to differ on two points with Mr. Reid:

1. The Tea Party Movement will not disappear anytime soon.  You see, the Tea Party Movement IS “We the People” and we are standing up against major forces who are trying to change our country to another way of government.  This will mean we must be engaged for a long time and we are ready for the challenge.  We will use our love for Liberty and for each other to continue the work we began two years ago.  We will stick together because we have become friends in this special cause for our country.
2. The economy is not improving.  It might be for Mr. Reid, but it is not happening on the ground across our great nation.   There are many of our friends who are out of work.  They are sending resumes for positions that pay less than half of what they used to make.  They are pinching pennies to pay for groceries.  They are watching gas prices rise as they pray God will give the money they need so they can drive to an interview or the grocery store.   We care deeply about each person we call friend.  When they hurt, we hurt.  We will stand beside them until they are on their feet again because that’s what friends do.

There is a major difference between the people in the Tea Party Movement and the Progressive Movement and here are a few of them:

Mr. Reid may hope that the Tea Party Movement will disappear but he is wrong.  We are friends now and friends stick together through thick and thin.  Mr. Reid may have a hard time understanding this concept but that’s okay.  We like him being in the dark and not fully understanding who we really are.

If you need a friend and someone who cares as much about this country as you do – join the Tea Party Movement today.  If there is not a local tea party where you live, set up your own.  Get your freedom-loving friends together and start a process to hassle your Representatives to do what is right for America.  It’s a lot of fun.  It’s a lot of hard work.  You don’t always win but it’s the right thing to do.

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson became close friends during the making of our country.  They thought differently on many points and argued where they did not see eye to eye.  But the one thing they had in common was their quest to be free men who could choose their own paths in life. 

We are no different today than in the times of Adams and Jefferson.  We are fighting for the same thing and we will not stop until Freedom is established again in America for all. 

I’ve got a friend and many more in the Tea Party Movement.  I thank each of them for standing up with me last week and for being there when I needed them.  It’s so good to know that you’ve got a friend when the world can be so cold. 

Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall – the Tea Party Movement will still be standing tall.