Wellstone legacy will never die

Kateri Wozny -- Staff Essay

There are heroes and there are legends. Heroes are remembered, but legends never die.

To many Minnesotans, Sen. Paul Wellstone was a legend.

“No one ever used the title of senator better or used it less,” said Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa.

It has only been six days since the fatal plane crash in northern Minnesota and some of us are still mourning. How could such a bad thing happen to these great people?

I remember hours before the plane went down, my father called and told me that my absentee ballot had finally come. All I could remember was how I couldn’t wait to vote for Wellstone.

The next day when I drove home to pick up some things, my friend asked me, “Who are you going to vote for now?” Even though I knew my vote for Wellstone wouldn’t be counted, I marked it anyway because I felt in my heart, it was still the right thing to do. It was the last time that any other Minnesotan or I would be able to see Wellstone’s name on a ballot and mark in the oval.

Tuesday night at Williams Arena at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, a memorial service was held in memory of the victims whose lives were cut too short: Sen. Wellstone; Sheila Wellstone, wife; Marcia Wellstone Markuson, daughter; Mary McEvoy, professor of special education at the University of Minnesota; Will McLaughlin, Wellstone staff; and Tom Lapic, Wellstone’s deputy state director.

Thousands of Minnesotans came together to embrace the sorrow that they were feeling. They had one thing in common that night: the Wellstones had left a significant mark on their lives somehow.

On the back of the memorial program read the words of Wellstone: “Politics is about the improvement of people’s lives.”

It was this statement that made me realize for the first time in my life just how important politics are in our lives. I know a few principles of politics, but not the whole nine yards.

Paul Wellstone did a lot for our state. He helped family farmers with their incomes, made healthcare accessible and affordable, raised the minimum wage and even helped children with education. If he would have won this election, he would have taken on corporate scandals and pharmaceutical companies, as well as expanding taxes to cover tuition and books.

“My dad (Paul) wasn’t the man he was without my mother,” said David Wellstone at the memorial service. “They were inseparable, and that’s the way it should have been when they passed away.”

Sheila Wellstone was as political and flamboyant a woman as Eva Per�n was to Argentina during the 1940s. Sheila became upset when she saw many women who were battered by their partners. She researched and educated women about domestic abuse and later helped open the Hennepin County Domestic Abuse Center for Women, which was changed in her name as of Tuesday night.

Sheila Wellstone had faith in her husband, and according to Connie Lewis, friend of Sheila Wellstone, she would always leave Paul little notes once she was gone for the day, saying, “We will win.”

“We (Minnesota) have a desire to see this legacy live on and we know that this legacy will live on,” said Mark Wellstone, son of Paul and Marcia.

In order to keep the Wellstones’ legacy alive, we as Minnesotans need to stand up and keep fighting for the changes we want made in this state. The Wellstones wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. Get involved with the community and make a difference.

“It is not that thought that counts, it’s the deed,” Sen. Wellstone said.

“It is not enough to cling to our principles if we are unwilling to act decisively.”

(This column is dedicated to my friend Zach, who always believes in fighting for a good cause.)

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