I first heard Rhana Bazzini when she called into the Diane Rehm show on January 7th (39:00 minute) when Lawrence Lessig first described the NH Rebellion plans. At the youthful age of 81...when I have spoken with her over the phone or read her emails her level of energy is closer to 25. Rhana is planning a 330-mile walk from Sarasota to Tallahassee from October to December to bring attention to this root issue that we all know must be addressed.

In addition, Rhana is planning to walk in conjunction with the Granny D Memorial Walk on August 23rd. Please support her or join her if you are able. You can learn more by visiting: ingrannydfootsteps.org. Below is a post from her website that I wanted to share. 

"The years fly by faster and faster. Can you believe we’re approaching the fourteenth year of the third millennium? Life is indeed like a roll of toilet paper—the closer to the end, the faster it goes. My dear spouse of fifty-six years died at home on June 9. It was sad to see him go, but much sadder watching him fail so toward the end. But as he himself said, he’d had a good life and had no regrets.

I’ve made the journey from daughter to wife to mother to widow. On the racetrack of life I’ve felt better with each passing decade; 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70. Somehow I felt 80 was going to be a watershed year. On that racetrack at 80 I was rounding the bend with the finish line in sight.

With a lot of time on my hands and being in good health, I decided I wanted to do something to make the world a better place before I “bought the farm.” What I needed was a project. After much thought, Granny D (Doris Haddock) kept popping into my mind. In 1999 at age eighty-nine she walked across the country for campaign finance reform. (For more background, Google Granny D.)

I think the fact that our government has become dysfunctional is not a partisan issue. What is partisan is what to do about it. Here is where I may lose some of you. We can agree to disagree but still be friends.

My original plan was to duplicate Doris’s walk. On second, more realistic thought, I decided to go with Plan B. I am attempting to recruit women over 80 to march to their state Capitols for campaign finance reform. (I may just move to Rhode Island.) I am not naïve enough to think this is the solution, but I do think it is a step in the right direction. It will be an ongoing project, following the weather, walking northern states during the summer, southern in winter. Move to Amend and Public Citizen plus several others are supportive, but I must do the organizing. This may just be a pipe dream, but the shame is not in failing but in not trying in the first place. Please wish me luck!

The current focus is on Florida, where I reside. I will begin my walk on October 13, 2014. Join me if you wish; the whole way, or just a few steps."

To learn more about Rhana and this wonderful project please visit: ingrannydfootsteps.org.

Rhana lacing up her shoes. Photo courtesy of Dan Wagner of the Herald-Tribune.