I always remembered the handshake of the late Rep. John Lewis (D-GA). Soft. Welcoming. It was peaceful. Calm flowed through Lewis’s palm, transferred into yours.
Yet, the handshake was strong.
That was the quintessence of John Lewis. The dichotomy. There was the calm. And there was the fury.
Lewis would always say hello in the Congressional hallways. He was always asking how you were doing. How you were feeling.
“How are you, my brother?” he would ask coming off the House floor, heading toward the elevators, sometimes placing a hand on your shoulder or upper arm.
“How are you, my friend,” Lewis would inquire in the tunnel stretching between the Capitol and the Cannon House Office Building.
The sun set Friday night on the life of John Lewis. But to Clyburn and others, Lewis’s passing means it’s really daybreak.
Leave a Reply