Friday Friend or Family Feature...

Today's Feature is....

Maura!



This a picture of my cousin Maura catching the bouquet at my wedding.(Doesn't my sister Kate looked pissed that she didn't catch it? Kate, you cannot catch flowers while holding a screwdriver. Rookie mistake.)


These two young women have a lot more important things on their agendas than getting married. Getting married can wait.



I am proud to say that my cousin Maura is a 'VETERAN FOR OBAMA.' She was recently interviewed by PBS. Here is part of what she said,

MAURA SULLIVAN, Former U.S. Marine Corps Officer: "You know, Gwen, it's interesting. When you first join the Marine Corps, one of the first things you do is learn about our leadership traits. And there's 14 of them. We are taught justice, judgment, integrity, courage, unselfishness.

I think Barack Obama has the courage, the integrity that I saw in the greatest leaders and in the greatest Marines that I served with overseas. And he's demonstrated that he knows his people and he looks out for their welfare."

Here is her bio as it is written on Obama's website...

Maura was born and raised in Evanston, Illinois and attended Northwestern University on an ROTC scholarship. After graduating, she commissioned into the Marine Corps, serving as a logistics officer. Her first assignment was to Okinawa, Japan where she traveled through Southeast Asia on military duties. Maura deployed to Fallujah, Iraq in 2005 and served there with distinction. Upon separating from active duty, Maura began a joint degree program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Business School, where she remains currently.


NOT TOO SHABBY!



I am not surprised, this is her mom.

Here is what Maura said about Obama on Military.com...

"Some Republicans say Obama can't lead because he has not served a day in uniform," said former Marine Maura Sullivan, who served in Iraq and now attends grad school at Harvard. "One of the Marine Corps' principles is know your troops and look after their welfare. I think Barack Obama's service in the neighborhoods of Chicago translates perfectly to the service he would be able to give as commander-in-chief."





How will my adoption impact Maura?

I hope that someday in the near future, my kids will be guests at one of Aunt Mary's Sunday dinners. I hope that on that night, Maura is back home for a visit. I hope that my kids are able to throw their arms around Maura, and thank her profusely for helping to bring much needed change to a country that they now call home.

I can't wait.