Word: dunham
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Their maternal grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, died two days before the Nov. 4 presidential election in the two-bedroom apartment where Dunham raised Obama. The e-mail was shared with this reporter (and with the daily Honolulu Advertiser). (See pictures of Barack Obama's family tree...
...final run-up to Election Day, Obama abruptly changed his campaign schedule to fly home and visit Dunham, who was dying of cancer at the age of 86. After her death was announced on Election Day eve, he spoke movingly of her at a final campaign appearance, tears streaming down his face. Services for Dunham have not been announced, and the Honolulu mortuary handling the arrangements, Borthwick Mortuary, has not returned phone calls. Obama's campaign, however, says he will return home to Honolulu sometime in December, prior to his Jan. 20 Inauguration 5,100 miles away in the nation...
...standing at the center of these questing characters was Dunham, a Maypole in a business suit and sensible shoes. When her husband went to war, Dunham went to work on a bomber assembly line. When her daughter had a baby and dropped out of college at 18, Dunham got a job at a bank, becoming the family's primary breadwinner. When Obama's mother returned to Indonesia, a teenage Obama wanted to stay in Hawaii; Dunham made space for him in her small Honolulu apartment. She was "the one who taught me about hard work," Obama said, accepting his party...
Throughout her grandson's campaign, Dunham declined to talk to reporters. She played bridge and followed the race closely on TV. "So long as you kids do well, Bar," she would tell her grandson, "that's all that really matters." Dunham's death on the eve of the election meant she would never see how well her grandson did. It's a tragedy she probably would have accepted with grace...
...victory. "She was one of those quiet heroes that we have all across America," he said, and tears we had never seen before streaked his face. "They're not famous. Their names are not in the newspapers, but each and every day, they work hard." One day later, Madelyn Dunham's grandson would be the most famous man in the world. (See pictures of Barack Obama's family tree...