California Senator Michael Rubio, a Democrat, has resigned his position. The main purpose for doing so appears to be an interest in being able to spend more time with his family. He and his wife have two daughters, one of whom has Down Syndrome. The former Senator has taken a job with Chevron.
I imagine that it would be quite difficult to be a Senator and to find a way to balance that with family life. I am certain that parents, of any profession, face that same challenge. However, when a parent who is not a public figure changes jobs in order to be able to have more family time, few question it. When a Senator does the same thing, it makes headlines.
Since this blog is in the Special Needs section of Families.com, I am going to leave out the political aspects of the news about Senator Rubio’s resignation, and focus on the parenting aspects instead. Senator Michael Rubio and his wife, Dora, have two young daughters. The youngest has Down Syndrome. Immediately, this makes me think of Sarah Palin who once ran for Vice President of the United States, and of her son, Trig.
According to SF Gate, Rubio pulled out of a run for Congress in 2011, shortly after his youngest daughter was born. Here are a series of quotes from Michael Rubio where he explains why he chose to resign from his job as a Senator.
I have realized that my current professional path has left little opportunity to be home for those who are most important to me, which is why I am making a change. – (from SF Gate)
It was a difficult decision because nearly a third of my life has been devoted to public service. But, I’ll tell you, life changes when you have children. – (from the Fresno Bee)
The LA Times has the following information:
…He said he quit the Legislature because he had tired of the 300-mile drive from his district to the Capitol and has a special needs daughter who requires attention.
“My family comes first,” he said.
The Mercury News has a longer version of that quote from Rubio:
With me, family comes first. And over the holiday break, my wife and I, through a lot of thought and prayer, made a decision that I would not be running for re-election.
Being home to have family dinner, this is what it’s all about. Family comes first.” (from the The Bakersfield Californian).
Image by Alex Proimos on Flickr