Last night was one of the weirdest nights of my life. I'm guessing that's probably the case for many, many people in our country. We're not a very political household. I can't stand the fear-based rhetoric that so many people spew, so I find it difficult to buy into either side of the political spectrum.
I was 99.9% sure that Hillary Clinton was going to win this election. I had made peace with it, hoping that all of the right-wingers were wrong in their assessments of her. I wasn't happy with the prospect, but I kept telling my kids that everything was going to be okay, nothing in our immediate lives would probably change, and that we need to be the best we can be no matter who our president is. In fact, as we were finishing up dinner last night, we decided to hunker down in the basement and watch some Monty Python and the Holy Grail to distract ourselves from the nuttiness of the day. One of the kids said, "We're going to have our first woman president, aren't we?" Nils and I responded, "Yep. Too bad it's going to be Hillary Clinton."
As we were watching the movie, I kept checking my phone every 10 seconds for election updates. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. At first I thought nothing of it, thinking that the big states she needed to win were going to change the way things were going. But that never happened. I started calculating, realizing that Donald Trump was winning, and was going to keep winning...I couldn't believe it. Not once in the last many months have I let myself believe that he could win; NO WAY would people allow this vulgar, hateful, loose cannon be our leader. He was making it so easy for HC to win!
My head started to pound (it's still pounding), and as the night went on, Nils and I were staring back and forth between each other and Google, with our mouths agape, not able to process what was happening, not knowing how to feel about any of it. I couldn't stay awake past 11:30 or so, but I woke up at 3:30 a.m. to check the final results and see if HC had conceded. I was trying to go back to sleep, and I heard a strange noise outside. Of all things, coyotes were howling up on the hill. I thought, "This is the weirdest night of my life."
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| I'm thankful for the opportunity to vote, even though the choices were pretty crap-tastic. |
I live an extremely blessed life, and I suspect that that isn't going to change based on what happened yesterday in the polls. We need to continue to do our part to be a force for good in society. Raise children who are kind and compassionate, who are willing to work and serve. Be examples of goodness, and appreciate the good examples of those around us- because they are everywhere. Recognize that we're children of a loving Heavenly Father, who is aware of us personally, and certainly aware of the state of our land. Last but not least, be thankful for the many, many blessings we enjoy every day.
I found this little quote the other day on lds.org: "You cannot be bitter, resentful, or mean-spirited when you are grateful."
#troof
So, we're trying to wrap our heads around Pres. Trump. I hope and pray that he'll be a good president, that he'll surround himself with an administration that is rational and smart, and has the best interests of our country at heart.
Also: Coyotes? Now when our dog runs off, I get to fret that she's been eaten by coyotes. That would be fun to explain to the kids.
