I have now had a day to reflect on the ecstatic two days that I spent with congressman Ron Paul. Dr. Paul came to West Michigan for his family's reunion hosted by his brother, David (my assistant pastor). Graciously, I was invited by my pastor to attend with my family.
Surprisingly, I was told about a week before his visit that he was coming into town a day early and was willing to speak before a group if something could be arranged. Fortunately, my friend within the Kent County GOP was able to organize a fundraiser at a private setting in town. Supporters had a chance to listen to his speech (YouTube video to follow when it is edited by our videographer) and shake hands, sign books/shirts/constitutions. Overall, a good time was had by all including our county GOP chair and officers. We will see what their thoughts were tomorrow at the executive meeting.
The highlight of the day was definitely my job taking Ron Paul and his wife Carol back to their hotel (20 minutes talking about politics, economics, etc.).
On Saturday, my wife and 3 children travelled to my pastor's home and spent the afternoon with the Paul family. I played ladderball with the boys, ate some delicious food, and spent a few hours talking about everything with Ron Paul and his four brothers. My wife was even asked to contribute a recipe to the Ron Paul Family & Friends Cookbook.
To say I had a wonderful two days would be a huge understatement. However, the greatest thing about the experience is that Ron Paul and his family are some of the nicest people you could ever meet. They are real, caring, genuinely great people. You would never guess he was a famous politician and it was fun watching him try (mostly failing) to convince one brother about the dangers of the government-run health care proposal (and current state of medicare/medicaid). The best story was that someone at the airport turned to him and said, "You know, you look a lot like Ron Paul who ran for president." To which he replied, "I get that a lot."
Here is a link to his newspaper interview with the Grand Rapids Press. Then there is the interview he did with a local news reporter who is also a member of my church (the audio kind of stinks).
