Sadness

HONOLULU — Barack Obama's grandmother, whose personality and bearing shaped much of the life of the Democratic presidential contender, has died, Mr. Obama announced Monday, one day before the election. Madelyn Payne Dunham was 86.

Mr. Obama announced the news from the campaign trail in Charlotte, N.C. The joint statement with his sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, said Ms. Dunham died peacefully late Sunday night after a battle with cancer.

Another 36 hours and she'd have lived to see her grandson elected.

So now he'll begin his life as President without any of his parents or grandparents. It's awful, but it almost sounds like it's supposed to be that way.