Chelsea Clinton: My Mother 'Never, Ever Gives Up'
PHILADELPHIA (CBSNewYork) -- Chelsea Clinton described her presidential nominee mother Thursday night as a woman of passion, strength, empathy and love who "never forgets what she's fighting for," and "never, ever gives up."
Chelsea Clinton, 36, talked about her two children – Charlotte and Aidan – and their close relationship with their grandmother. She also described her mother as having a caring and fearless personality – both personally and as a political leader.
"My earliest memory is my mom picking me up after I'd fallen down, giving me a big hug, and reading me 'Goodnight Moon,'" Chelsea Clinton said. "From that moment to this one, every single memory I have with my mom is that regardless of what's happening in her life, she was always, always there for me."
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She said her mother supported her at every softball and soccer game and every piano and dance recital, and on Saturdays "making up stories about what we'd ever do if we met a triceratops."
"As a kid, I was kind of obsessed with dinosaurs," Chelsea Clinton joked.
And Chelsea Clinton said when her mother was away at work, "She left notes for me to open every day when she was gone," detailing activities such as traveling to France to learn about child care, and efforts to help children in Arkansas.
"I treasured each and every one of those notes. They were always a reminder that I was always in her thoughts and in her heart," Chelsea Clinton said.
As Chelsea Clinton grew up, she said her parents always valued her opinion and listened to what was on her mind, as well as talking about their own efforts.
"I loved that my parents expected me to have opinions, and to be able to back them up with facts," she said. "I never once doubted that my parents cared about my thoughts and my ideas, and I always, always knew how deeply they loved me."
Chelsea Clinton continued: "That feeling of being valued and loved, that's what my mom wants for every child. It is the calling of her life."
Chelsea Clinton went on to talk about how her mother dedicated herself, selflessly, to public service.
"As her daughter, I've had a special window into how she serves. I've seen her holding the hands of mothers worrying about how they'll feed their kids; worrying about how they'll get that health care they need. I've seen my mother promising to do everything she could to help," Chelsea Clinton said.
Even when Hillary Clinton's hard-fought efforts for universal health care did not work out, she was able to lick her wounds and go on – with a few family movie nights as a salve, Chelsea said.
"She will never forget who she's fighting for," Chelsea Clinton added. She credited her mother with making it easier for kids to be adopted, for 9/11 responders to get health care, and for women around the world to be safe and have greater opportunity.
Chelsea said her mother's efforts "grab her heart and they grab her conscience, and they never let go. That's who my mom is. She's a listener and a doer. She's a woman driven by compassion, by faith, by a fierce sense of justice and a heart full of love."
