It was raining before Barack Obama walked on stage in Charlotte, North Carolina. The crowd in the field behind the University of North Carolina was still moving in, snaking through the security barriers round the car park and beyond. A slight rain rapidly turned into a drenching, heavy downpour.
On this, the third rain-soaked event of Obama’s final week of the election, there was the saddest of news: his 86-year-old grandmother passed away after losing her struggle with cancer.
Madelyn Dunham was more than just Obama’s grandmother. She was a surrogate mother for many years, while he lived in Hawaii and his mother remained in Indonesia. She was above all a strong figure who held the family together, with a pioneering career as a female executive in a Hawaii bank and a steady emotional presence in a deeply unconventional family.
She was also the last parental figure in Obama’s life, since his own mother and grandfather passed away several years ago. In a joint statement with his half-sister Maya, Obama described her this way: “She was the cornerstone of our family, and a woman of extraordinary accomplishment,strength and humility. She was the person who encouraged and allowed us to take chances. She was proud of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren and lef tthis world with the knowledge that her impact on all of us was meaningful and enduring. Our debt to her is beyond measure.”
