Sara Orozco’s leadership shines through – Read her note to supporters

Dear BMG:

Early in 2008, political novice, Sara Orozco, of Needham announced her plan to run against Republican incumbent State Senator, Scott Brown, a person who holds vastly different core values than does Sara.  With each person she met, her campaigned gathered steam and by late October she had won the endorsements of the Boston Globe, over 20 important organizations, countless political leaders and hundreds of committed grassroots volunteers.  Though her bid was not victorious on Tuesday, she walked away with 41% of the vote and her opponent had to spend down his much larger war-chest to defeat a virtual unknown.  Just imagine what Sara will do next!  I’m writing to share with you the very personal thank-you note she wrote to her supporters so that you could see for yourselves, who she is and why so many are signing up to help her tackle her next challenge.

Dear Friends,

This has been an incredible journey.  This thank you letter has been very difficult to write because I wish I could’ve given you a win, something to show for all of your hard work.   Today I woke up very early, my heart racing, feeling like I had somewhere to be-either at a train station greeting potential voters, checking email to make sure nothing drastic had happened overnight, writing a letter, drafting a speech or studying an issue.  

If there is anything I know for sure about being a candidate, is that you always feel that there is too much to do and not enough time.  Except today, my only job was to sit still and take it all in, the highs, the lows, the disappointment, the relief, the sadness, and the unknown of what my next steps would be.  In one day, it all stopped except for those great notes, letters and even flowers from you that have kept this day moving along.   The first thing I did was start cleaning the house and making room in my basement to put the signs away.  I then took a break, and drove around with Lori plucking my signs off yards along the path I drive with my kids.  I thought it might be easier for them if they didn’t see my signs all over people’s yards.  

I sat down to write this letter on many occasions and although I didn’t get very far, it was a great opportunity to shed a few tears and grin at some great memories.  And then there was realization of a great gift I hadn’t realized yet.  When I was in college, I was a communications major before going into psychology.  I interned at the local television station and wrote many news pieces and even got to air a few stories on issues of the day.  At the end of my internship, my supervisor gave me my evaluation and although there were many good points, I only remembered one.  He said I wouldn’t make it in broadcast journalism because I had a Spanish accent (I lived in North Carolina at the time).  He said he would help me get rid of it if I was interested in pursuing broadcast journalism as a career option.  Unfortunately, I believed him and decided to get out of journalism and into psychology since it had been my minor.  I never regretted my choice to enter psychology, but I have regretted the number of times his words have kept me from following my heart.

In January, when I was deciding to run for this seat, his voice came back and I was full of fear for all the reasons why I shouldn’t run and how humiliating this whole experience might be for me and my family.  But what could’ve been a dead end, was a trajectory into one of the greatest experiences of my life.  

These last ten months have been about possibilities and opportunities.  It has been about hard work and small miracles.   It has been about the stories I have heard of people I have never met who now are part of me.  It has been about hope and despair, laughter, exhaustion, fear, joy, and humility.  It has been about courage-not just mine – but yours.  It takes commitment and dedication to work on a campaign, and courage to believe and work hard for something you know is against the odds.  The easy path would have been to ignore this call for help, but you didn’t.  You were there making calls, holding signs, donating money, praying, talking to friends and strangers.  I thank you for what you did for me and I am grateful for what you gave my kids.  They might have seen their mother run for office, but they also saw people they had never seen before making calls for their mother, holding signs, and walking door-to-door.  For that, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.  Although my supervisor’s words may have hindered my life for many years, your support, encouragement, belief and inspiration gave me something greater than you may have realized.  You reminded me on many occasions along this path, that courage is more powerful than fear and much more rewarding and contagious.    Thank you for believing in me, for asking how you could help, and for your courage to follow this through to the end.  I’m especially indebted to my tireless staff and volunteers. You made each success along the way possible. I look forward to our next chapter together.

With gratitude and respect,

Sara

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