Reading between the lines

A recent news story noted that Maya Soetoro-Ng, Barack Obama's half-sister, had declined to join Obama on election night in Chicago, opting instead to stay in the apartment in Hawaii where she had cared for their grandmother for eight years. She spoke of her conflicting emotions in the aftermath of their grandmother's death and Obama's election. Although she was not explicit, one wonders whether resentment figured in that mix. The Obamas typically visited Hawaii for the Christmas holidays, whereas Soetoro-Ng lived there year-round, caring for her grandmother, working as a teacher and raising her daughter. Surely she must have had moments when she felt that her brother was able to pursue his political prospects in part because he was unfettered by the caregiving role that fell to her.