Day: July 16, 2026

I am a fortunate soul. I have a nice home, a car, a pension, a loving husband, children and grandchildren who have made me proud, good health, food in my pantry, and friends who understand and accept me just as I am. I should be happy all of the time but I have a personality quirk that often leaves me in a state of profound sadness. I see suffering and unfairness all around me and I cannot just look the other way and pretend that all is right with the world as long as my own life is so good. 

I really don’t know when I became this way but I suspect that it coincided with my father’s death. I witnessed the profound grief of my thirty year old mother and then watched her pull herself together for the good of me and my brothers. To this very day I do not know how she found such strength but she did. She gave the most extraordinary gift to her children. She made us feel safe and always loved. The sacrifices that she made to accomplish this were huge and even as a child I understood her willingness to give her very life for us. 

My mother was strong and courageous and wise but she also had a soft spot for people. I saw tears flow down her cheeks whenever she witnessed unfairness that hurt others. She could not abide the idea that it was okay to just ignore the hungry, the sick, the homeless, the victims of violence. She actively did whatever possible to help them and she seemed to feel their pain in a most visceral way. 

I suppose that I felt good about my teaching profession because on a daily basis for many decades I was dedicated to the welfare of my students. Many of them were living unbelievably difficult lives. It was sometimes hard for me to believe that in the richest nation of the world there were actually people struggling as much as many of them did. I saw the effects of nativism and racism up close in the eyes of many of my students. I felt their pain and their want much like my mother always did with others. I felt humbled to be able to help them even in small ways. I rejoiced when they bloomed and found ways to move beyond the limitations of their circumstances.

I also understood that not all Americans were willing to accept them just as they were. I heard and read the taunts that demeaned them but I actually believed that they were the exception rather than the rule. Imagine my incredulous puzzlement when Donald Trump was elected president not once but twice. I had to accept the discomforting possibility that some Americans actually accept and like the horrific views of this vile man. How else can I explain that he seems to charm them with his hate filled ideas?

I’ve had people tell me that they just look beyond the horrific aspects about Trump because they think he is just a blowhard who will never follow through with his taunts. Then I see that he keeps proving them wrong. I wonder what it will take for them to disown him totally. Surely they see his lies, his ugliness, the violence that he suggests. Instead they tell me that I am the hater when I have never before in my life hated any individual or group until now. 

I cannot pretend that I don’t see the ugliness in Trump and some of his followers. I read their hideous comments about immigrants, gay and trans people, Muslims, progressives and even ordinary Democrats. When a good man is shot down in the the streets of Houston by ICE they revel in the idea that one less illegal immigrant has been removed. They can’t seem to muster sympathy for the family of this man. It is the lack of human decency that drives me to a sadness for our nation that I have never before experienced this deeply. 

I know that not everyone who voted for Trump agrees with what he has done but I expect all Americans to voice their concerns before it is too late. Just looking the other way and living life as though all is normal is only going to make the situation worse. It is only when we all join together in condemning what is happening that we have a chance to right the wrongs. I have always believed in the importance of speaking up for anyone who is being abused. I learned that from my mother. 

When boys were taunting a girl that they did not like by attempting to throw her into the deep end of a swimming pool even though she was screaming that she could not swim, I made them stop. When a principal was being unfair to the faculty I confronted her. When a student was being punished for something that was not her fault, I argued in her favor. I have continuously done this kind of thing not because I am somehow better than others or some kind of hero but just because it has been the right thing to do. 

I grieve for the people in the United States and in the world who are being bullied by our president. I wonder why the Republicans cannot seem to find the courage or voice to stop him. I grieve that we have a television station filled with untrue propaganda that is poisoning the minds of people who do not seem to understand the lies that they are being told. I grieve for the possibility that our democratic republic is being threatened by a man who has enriched himself by taking away assistance from the most vulnerable among us. 

I don’t want to grieve anymore. I want to celebrate that we the people of the United States have found our goodness once again. I hope beyond the evidence that I will soon see the signs that Trump is going to be stopped. My hope is focused on the November elections. That is when I will know whether or not we will be okay.