Have politics strained any of your relationships?
For 77-year-old Ocala resident Mary Lee Tibbetts, one of her childhood friends from elementary school is on the other side of the political spectrum. Over the years, they’ve learned not to talk about politics in order to keep the friendship that they both cherish strong.
“We don't agree on politics at all, we don't even talk about it,” Tibbetts said. “I mean, and she’s as liberal as - it’s like, oh my goodness.”
That inability to talk politics with her friend is one reason why Tibbetts wanted to sit down for a One Small Step conversation with Central Florida Public Media and StoryCorps. Tibbetts sat down for a conversation with fellow Ocala resident Cathy Wittman.
Wittman said her politics have changed over the years, but she finds herself living in a state where she doesn’t agree with the politics - what her family calls the “wild, wild South.”
“I follow in the news a politics I don't agree with,” Wittman said. “So now how can I, in my disagreement, how can I disagree in a way that means something?”
Meet Cathy Wittman
Wittman, 78, was born in Pennsylvania.
She was adopted, and a few years ago was able to connect with her birth mother’s family.
“And I turn out to be the oldest of 13 half siblings, and seven on my natural mother's side,” Wittman said.
When she was five years old, her 13-year-old brother died of leukemia. That was her adopted parent’s biological child. Both her parents were drinkers, Wittman said, and moved every few years for her dad’s work.
She remembers the kindness of her family’s maid when her brother was sick. She took her on the bus to downtown Jacksonville, went to Woolworth’s and bought her a squirt gun.
“What I got from her in that afternoon was something I couldn’t get from my parents, because they were so locked up in my brother’s illness and then his death,” Wittman said. “She gave me attention.”
That was one of her first experiences with a person of color, she said, and later influenced how she viewed issues of racial justice, equality and integration. Wittman said politically, her views have evolved over the years.
“I would have voted for John McCain, until (Barack) Obama came along,” Wittman said. “I'm conservative about some things. I like to pay my bills on time. I'm concerned about our national debt, our state debt.”
Meet Mary Lee Tibbetts
Mary Lee Tibbetts was born and raised in the small town of West Gardiner, Maine.
She went to college in Connecticut, and came back to West Gardiner and had three children. After her mother died, her father remarried and sold her the family’s childhood home. Her children attended the same elementary school and high school that she went to.
“We were all in the same town,” Tibbetts said. “And had some of the same teachers again. So it was like living your childhood over again through your own children.”
Tibbetts has been married for 53 years. After her children were raised, she moved to Ocala.
“My family happened to be conservative to begin with,” Tibbetts said. “My father and mother had lived through the (Great) Depression, so you don't forget that. … So you saved and you made do with what you had, and you didn't buy things on credit.”
The Takeaway
Ultimately, Tibbetts and Wittman bonded over shared life experiences, including spending time in Maine and going to school as parents.
“We are not enemies,” Tibbetts said. “We may not always agree on stuff, but we don’t have to not like each other.”
Wittman came away from the conversation, “wanting to get to know Mary Lee even more.” And since the conversation, Tibbetts and Wittman have met up.
“I am so happy that I made the decision to do this, and I would encourage anyone else to do the same thing,” Tibbetts added.
