PAST
A week today, my wife and sons and I went to our boardwalk amusement park in San Diego. We rode the carousel, the Silly Submarine, the race cars, and played in the arcade. My sons were doing what they do best: having fun in the moment. My wife enjoyed herself, too, and we both took turns riding the Giant Dipper, Belmont Park’s classic wooden roller coaster. Underneath my smile and laugh however, was the building excitement of Tuesday, Election Day—the day we the people would (finally) elect our next president to lead our blessed nation. That president-elect hopefully being Hillary Clinton. Mixed in with my excitement though, was a streak of fear, the still uncertain outcome that, though favored to win, she might not. That fear had lingered for the past year, always lurking under that awesome potential of her rise to the highest office in the land.
You may have rejoiced. You may have shrugged your shoulders and gone to bed. Or you may have felt like we did: as though there was a death in the family.
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PRESENT
We all know what happened. But what happened in your home? You may have rejoiced. You may have shrugged your shoulders and gone to bed. Or you may have felt like we did: as though there was a death in the family. With that feeling comes all the stages of grief, and what lasts is a stinging emotional hangover. That’s where as a family have been. It’s shocking, painful, and still unbelievable. But, it will pass. From tragedy blooms joy, eventually. Eventually.
My wife and I have talked late into the night about how our jobs have been and always will be to make sure our little boys grow up to be good men.
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FUTURE
The morning after, and the rest of the week, I have reaffirmed my love for my wife and my sons. I took them in my arms and reminded them that we need to take care of each other. We need to create and foster love inside and outside of our home. My wife and I have talked late into the night about how our jobs have been and always will be to make sure our little boys grow up to be good men. That they know to respect each other, their fellow man and woman, no matter their color or creed. In between my spells of disbelief, I’ve stopped to look at my two sons and remebered that they are the future. Not the president-elect, nor Hillary Clinton are the actual future. My very own sons are, as is every child in this great nation, and on this awe-inspiring planet. Let’s try to focus only on them right now and see what happens.
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Photo credit: Robert Couse-Baker.