This morning, I took my dog on a mile-long walk like I do everyday trying to clear my head. I ran into a friendly neighbor. She must have been clearing her head too because after a few "how are you doings" we found ourselves weeping. We cleared the tears and she proceeded to tell me about her best friend who had past away 3 years ago.
As it turned out, her best friend went to high school with Hillary Clinton and she knew her well. She went on to say that this week's events had shaken her up because it reminded her of all the Hillary stories her best friend had told her. She said her friend told her that Hillary would be President one day and that she would be the best President.
I told her I wanted to play by the rules and accept the person America chose but it was hard because I didn't think he was a good person. That is when she told me another story. A story about when a young Catholic man was elected to be President (she was a teen who had been raised by a strictly Republican family). After the election, she and her friend decided they were going to do something drastic to protest his winning. She was on the phone planning these shenanigans when her father came in and gave her the signal to get off the phone. He sat her down and told her in the most serious voice she had ever known him to have and explained that while their candidate didn't win it was important to understand that the moment he was elected there were no more Republicans and Democrats, just Americans. And as Americans, President Kennedy deserved their respect. He went on to say it was her duty to accept that decision and support it. She said that talk with her dad was a defining moment in her life and she wished more than anything that she could talk to him right now.
We welled up again at the greatness of her dad and in that moment, I too wanted to speak to him just to be reassured. After our encounter, I read Hillary's words about moving forward just like my friend's dad said. We are all Americans at the end of the day. The hate was there before and it's there today. It's something we will likely always need to defend. It's okay to grieve but in the end we have to keep moving forward.
As it turned out, her best friend went to high school with Hillary Clinton and she knew her well. She went on to say that this week's events had shaken her up because it reminded her of all the Hillary stories her best friend had told her. She said her friend told her that Hillary would be President one day and that she would be the best President.
I told her I wanted to play by the rules and accept the person America chose but it was hard because I didn't think he was a good person. That is when she told me another story. A story about when a young Catholic man was elected to be President (she was a teen who had been raised by a strictly Republican family). After the election, she and her friend decided they were going to do something drastic to protest his winning. She was on the phone planning these shenanigans when her father came in and gave her the signal to get off the phone. He sat her down and told her in the most serious voice she had ever known him to have and explained that while their candidate didn't win it was important to understand that the moment he was elected there were no more Republicans and Democrats, just Americans. And as Americans, President Kennedy deserved their respect. He went on to say it was her duty to accept that decision and support it. She said that talk with her dad was a defining moment in her life and she wished more than anything that she could talk to him right now.
We welled up again at the greatness of her dad and in that moment, I too wanted to speak to him just to be reassured. After our encounter, I read Hillary's words about moving forward just like my friend's dad said. We are all Americans at the end of the day. The hate was there before and it's there today. It's something we will likely always need to defend. It's okay to grieve but in the end we have to keep moving forward.
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