It's not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game.

Actually, that's not true. If you play the game you wanna' win. At least I do. And if you play fair, and you do everything right and then some, losing is a bitch and a half.

To this day we still don't know if my mom won the election. It's been two days and all we know so far is that her party won. Yesterday I was told to start doing my little victory dance. This morning I was told to wash the dogs cause they were coming back home.

At this point, we still don't know. But we are prepared for both.

I am proud of my mother. I really am. The number of things that she has accomplished in the past number of years is impressive. She decided one day that she wanted to run for office and she did. Despite the fact that this is still a very male-driven society, she hung with the big boys and earned their respect. The people in her province love her because she built her entire campaign on social work and when the other candidates forgot that in some of their communities some of the basic needs weren't met, my mom came through for them and got it done. All from her own pocket because unlike in the US, the candidate here pays for the bulk of their campaign.

If she does in fact wins, like we all really hope she will, she will be a valuable asset for her province in Congress. I am not just saying this because she is my mother, but because unlike most of the politicians here, she actually cares and always has. Even as children, before the political bug bit her, Ivan, Gus and I knew that we had to share our wealth with those less fortunate than us and that didn't-and still doesn't- mean to help the children of Somalia but to help the people from "the homeland". Those pilgrimages to Monte Cristi that we took over the years to give out toys, or school supplies, or home appliances or whatever were a intrical part of our upbringing and from that we learned and many benefited.

If she loses, it will be a sad day for Monte Cristi but it will also be a sad day for our household. Many people don't understand why I am so into my family but the answer is simple: because we work like the team we are to help each other accomplish our dreams, even if said dreams should remain just that. When I have wanted or needed something my whole family has rallied around me and done everything in their power to help me get there. The same thing has happened with my brothers. This time she was the one who wanted something and we all gathered around to support of her and did our part, even if at times some of us (like myself) didn't really agree with what she wanted to do.

If she loses, we all lost.

The game is a hard one to play when there is so much at stake. But we are still playing and we'll keep playing as long as we must because if she wants to play until she wins, we will all play until we win.