Our Choice, 2020

Dear Reader,

It’s been a while since I have been here. Life swallowed me up a bit since then. I hope you are well. Needless to say, I have had more on my mind than the last of summer’s peaches. Though, I wish things were that simple and sweet.

It is now, both suddenly and finally, the middle of October. Here we stand, in the midst of a growing pandemic, anxious about what the next day or the next week may bring, maybe a little lonely and, most certainly, navigating uncertainty with new appreciation.

In addition to this, we stand on the precipice of a moment in history that will truly define who we are. And I am terrified.

I am afraid that we have slowly and torturously become desensitized, so much so that we will forget.

Or worse, look the other way.

Will we forget the lies, because there have been so many? The jaw-dropping tweets? The insults? Will we forget the allegations of sexual misconduct, criminal business activity, and ethics violations because there have been so many? Will we forget impeachment, because it was replaced with a pandemic? Will we forget 219,000 dead? A black man killed on the pavement for our children to see and countless others we did not see? Will we forget to believe in science or in the voices of doctors and environmentalists? Will we forget how to coexist? How to debate with grace and intelligence? Will we forget to celebrate intellect?

For many, things do not start to matter until it hits home. There are no wild fires until you see the smoke, or until the flames lick your doorstep.  If you have spent four years looking away, I beg of you now: look up.

I have a beautiful daughter. It is not okay with me if a man grabs her where he wants to. Brags about it. Then gets elected to office.

Do you have a daughter? Granddaughter? Sister? Mother? Aunt? Wife? Friend?

Both of my children have lisps and speech disabilities. It is not okay with me for them to be mocked and ridiculed.

My dad served in the Air Force. It is not okay with me for him to be called a “sucker” or a “loser.”

Do you love someone who is brown or black? Gay? Female? Sick?

This is about character, to be certain. And so much more.

I want my children to grow up with a thirst to see the world. I want them to embrace others and to be embraced. I want them to know that what is important exists in relationships beyond a wall and in the rich threads of cultures they have not yet had the opportunity to know. I want my children to live with the confidence that adults are acting to protect the land and water we count on to survive, that we use science to guide our decisions. I want Harper and Jameson to live in a country that looks forward, not sixty years behind. I want Harper to know that her body belongs solely to her. I want my children to marry whomever they want and for that to be protected always. I want my children to be guided by a religion of humanity, not one that teaches “love thy neighbor” unless. I want the children I teach to be offered the same pathways to opportunity as my own, and I want education to be revered. It is not elitist to read, to seek to understand, to yearn for more, and to speak with dignity.

So, what choice will we make? What version of their future will we be able to share with our children? Where do you stand? I am terrified.

And hopeful.

Please vote.

Thanks for reading,

Katie