Source:
New York TimesCHARLOTTE, N.C. — Madelyn Dunham, who watched from afar as her only grandson rapidly ascended the ranks of American politics to the brink of the presidency, did not live to see whether he was elected.
Mrs. Dunham, 86, Senator Barack Obama’s grandmother, died late Sunday in Hawaii after battling cancer, which Mr. Obama announced upon arriving here on Monday for a campaign stop on the eve of Election Day.
“She has gone home,” said Mr. Obama, his voice tinged with emotion as he briefly spoke of her death at a campaign rally here. “She died peacefully in her sleep with my sister at her side, so there’s great joy instead of tears.”
Mr. Obama learned of his grandmother’s death at 8 a.m. on Monday, aides said, but appeared at a morning rally in Florida without making an announcement. A written statement was issued around 4:30 p.m., in the name of Mr. Obama and his sister, before he spoke at an evening rally in Charlotte. The delay was intended to allow his sister, who was six hours behind in Hawaii, time to take care of a few details before the death became public.
Mrs. Dunham was the final remaining immediate family member who helped raise Mr. Obama during his teenage years in Hawaii. He called her Toot, his shorthand for “tutu,” a Hawaiian term for grandparent.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/04/us/politics/04grandmother.html?_r=1&ref=politics&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin
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http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3581246&mesg_id=3582302http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3581246&mesg_id=3582325Or read the whole thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3581246Botany's post was most touching:
"Madelyn you got him 99% of the way .... we got the other 1%."