Damn it, Ann!

Cancer strikes again. Damn it, this time it has targeted one of the great Texans of modern times. Ann Richards is hardly a yellow rose but more like the Lone Star itself. With her trademark big Texas hair and her sharp tongue, she took names and kicked ass as only the second woman to serve as the Governor of Texas. She raised a family, lived life hard, crusaded for women and children...all while the Texas legislature did their damnest to hog tie her. Dubya Bush may have defeated her in her attempt at a second term as governor (Oh Lord, voters of Texas, what were your thinking?), but it didn't defeat her life. She has continued to serve and inspire. I used to sit behind her at First Methodist Church in Austin on a regular basis and never failed to get a kick out of seeing her. She is a tiny woman yet her smile and her heart are bigger than all those miles and miles of Texas put together. I ran into her near the Barnes & Noble on the Upper West Side recently and she hadn't changed a bit. Bless your heart, Ann.