A Nation of Immigrants

A family in my mom’s neighborhood has an outdoor whiteboard, where they share various critiques of the current administration.  They ended this campaign cycle by simply writing, “Biden-Harris.”  Of course, the board was vandalized and now “Trump” is spray-painted over said board.

It is a perfect metaphor for the last four years. 

So now, I wait.  You wait.  We wait. 

Even though I hope “my side” prevails, I am acutely aware that we have already lost.  We as Americans have all lost the ability to listen and learn from each other.  We have lost the ability to have substantive conversations about issues that actually affect the majority of our lives. 

I am tired.  You probably are, too?

In that exhaustion, it is easy to feel hopeless.  It is easy to cross my arms and turn my back on all of it.

Yet, my salvation came from an unlikely source in the early hours of this election day morning…the algorithms at Shutterfly.  For whatever reason, today an email popped into my inbox with memories from Nov. 20, 2019.

It was the day when my British-Trinidadian, now-American husband became a citizen.  It was exactly what I needed to see on today.

From my Facebook post from that day:

“Richard and 841 immigrants became U.S. citizens today. They came from 78 countries. They included 11 active-duty military who had already sworn oaths to serve and protect, and who now swore oaths to protect the constitution.

The family and friends gathered there formed our own community. We held each other’s children during the long periods of wait. We cheered loudly for our neighbor’s country of origin.

We clapped. We hugged.

Volunteers from the Registrar of Voters were there; patiently standing outside despite the rare San Diego rain. They were undeterred from their mission of offering voice to our newest citizens. There are days when I am pessimistic about the direction of this country. Today was not one of them.”

In case you were wondering, Richard cast his first vote in an American presidential election this past week…for Joe Biden.