There were times when students that I loved did bad things. It was always difficult to mete out the punishments that they had earned. I hated their thoughtless choices, behavior that was wrong, but I never hated them. I continued to love them and encourage them to start anew to attempt to be better. 

I remember one of my favorite students stealing laptops computers from the school. He was expelled for his actions. As he waited for his mother to pick him up and take him home he sat in an anteroom sobbing. When I went to talk with him he exclaimed with red eyes that he knew that I could no longer think well of him or like him. He was shocked when I told him that I disliked what he had done and agreed that he had to be disciplined, but that I would never stop caring for him. I expressed my hope that somehow he would be able to learn from what had happened and make changes in his life that would help him to follow a pathway of honesty. I hugged him and wished him well with tears in my own eyes. 

A few years later I saw this young man once again at his brother’s graduation. He was smiling and rushed over to give me a hug. He told me that he had worked hard to undo the harm he had done to others. He went to counseling and concentrated more on his schooling. He even got a job to earn the funds that he had once attempted to garner illegal by theft. His mother and brother were as proud of him as I was. He had paid for his crime and was ready to move on and live a good life. 

Each of us has no doubt encountered a situation in which someone for whom we care is found to be guilty of behaviors that appall us. For some it may be addiction to drugs or alcohol or both. For others it may be theft or physical violence. It hurts to know of their deception and criminal actions. We may never be able to forgive them for what they have done, but if they are our child it is difficult to turn away completely. It is normal to feel the bond of love and the abhorrence of their actions at one and the same time.

We have a President who has led a life filled with tragedy. His first wife died in a car accident along with his daughter. As someone who lost a parent when I was eight I know the emotional rollercoaster that overtakes the emotions. I have lived the depression and uncertainty of a child feeling so suddenly unmoored. I somehow made it through the darkness and found the light but I have seen many students whose lives were overturned with the loss of a parent. They went from happy children to morose and tortured souls who sometimes struck out at the world in their confusion. I suspect that Hunter Biden is one of those souls. His response to the trauma was to rely on drugs, to shatter his own life those around him hoping to kill the pain. 

I do not condone all that Hunter Biden has done, but I believe that I understand some of the impetus for his out of control lifestyle. He obviously hit rock bottom and hurt lots of people before he was able to pull himself out of the pit he had created. He has managed to get sober and remain there even though he would certainly know that each day has the potential to toss him back into the maelstrom.

Hunter’s father has no doubt spent many nights anxiously praying for his son, hoping that somehow he will change. He is certain to have asked himself if he is to blame for how Hunter became. This is what any loving parent does in such a situation. It is to the President’s credit that he has refused to give up on Hunter. He rightfully hates the bad things that Hunter has done but loves him with the deepest kind of love that parents have for their children, good or bad.

Hunter committed a crime when he purchased a gun under the influence of drugs. He lied on a document that everyone who makes such a purchase must sign. A jury has determined that Hunter is guilty of breaking the law and his father accepts the verdict even as he show his love for his prodigal son. This is what good parents do. 

There are people who are using this very personal family tragedy as a political cudgel. They are mocking the President for loving his ‘criminal” son. They seem not to understand that to do otherwise would demonstrate a lack of humanity. They hurl insults at Hunter and his entire family knowing that their darts might pierce his resolve to stay drug free. They show a total lack of sensitivity to a situation that would be heartbreaking to any parent who possesses an ounce of feeling. 

I think of my students who were saved when they learned that people cared about them in spite of their sins. I wonder how any of us can dare to judge a father who openly demonstrates his love for his son in spite of his transgressions. Most of us have witnessed similar situations in our own lives or in the families of people that we know. Such moments are always intensely difficult but there is always a small grain of hope as long as love prevails. I dislike what Hunter did and I agree that he must pay a price but then we should all cheer him if he continues to work to be a better man and we should respect our President for showing us how to love.