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Diane Tomlinson Beck July 8, 2022 My testimonial on how I became involved with #WalkAway. Shared on FB over a yr. ago and now sharing on Social. My journey into politics began when I would help my mom make signs for the pro-life movement while I was 5 or 6 years old. I did not see it as politics, but as saving babies. I attended St. Mary’s school from 1st grade through my senior year in a small rural part of middle America. My parents had 6 girls in 9 years. We grew up with the church being a very big focal point in our lives. My mom sang for most of the funerals, weddings, and church services while raising our family. She was young and beautiful, with everyone admiring her angelic voice. No matter the suffering, she loved Jesus. And she suffered a lot. I moved back home after being a nanny in California to care for my mom, back around 1990. It was later discovered the reason she needed help was because she had cancer. During this time she was trying to make music, with only partial lung capacity. A good friend of hers had a small studio she could use. She wanted to do a duet with someone to honor a teacher, who also had cancer, at our school. She called the high school to ask if they could recommend a male student who had a good singing voice. They sent her a recommendation. This person was maybe 14 years old at the time. He was a friend of my youngest sister. He would meet up with my mom at this studio to work on this song. This guy and a couple of his friends would visit my mom, even bringing her artwork and a stuffed animal to show her they cared. He even stayed back from a school-sponsored trip to sing for her funeral. She was really in a lot of pain…. My mom touched hundreds, maybe even thousands, of lives, never complaining and having such a strong faith. Jump ahead to years later, after my mom had died, and it was either a sister or the guy who had the studio who sent me the songs my mom did back then. It was priceless to me. At some point, I wanted to look up the guy who had sung the duet with my mom, because I knew he was special to her and she said he would do great things. When Facebook was in its infancy, I was looking people up from my past…all sorts of people; friends, babysitters, relatives, etc. I loved seeing how everyone was doing. So, I looked up this “kid” that had sung with my mom. I also babysat him on occasion. I had nearly poisoned him with a mercury thermometer…on accident, of course. When I contacted him, I asked him if he had ever been tested for mercury poisoning. I was not too shocked when I discovered he was living in NY. I had always thought he had a great voice and loved theatre. We connected a bit. On occasion, we would message each other. Later on in the years, we would argue a bit. I was the complete opposite of him…a pro-life, Christian, married woman with children. I continued to wonder why he did not block me or unfriend me. In November of 2016, I remember seeing him cry over Trump winning the election. Although, not a huge fan of Trump's personality, I liked his policies. At some point, this guy asked his Facebook friends how could “we” vote for a man who mocked a reporter's disability. I am guessing most of you know who I am referring to by now. Yep, Brandon Straka! It looked to me like most of his friends were liberals from NY, and I did not want to get eaten alive. I privately messaged him asking if he would watch a video. The video was disproving Trump had mocked the disabled reporter. If he had, I am not so sure I would have stuck up for him as my dad has been disabled for years. I believe I had mentioned this to Brandon….and the rest is history. I have attended many of his events, including those in DC (twice), Arizona, California, Oregon, and Washington, where they asked me to introduce him, and I met amazing people. I've continued over the last several years moderating for our FB group #WalkAwayWashington where I've made many new friends! Diane B. #WalkAway Washington State Leader (I'm a bit on hiatus due to losing both my husband and dad within the last 6 months, but plan to be back later at some point)