I was terrified the last few weeks leading up to the elections. Really scared. A lot of people underestimate how depressed and disheartened people can feel in this political environment. I certainly had been feeling that way and I tried to manage it with a lot of self care. And by self care, I mean eating a lot of sweets… I wondered how I was supposed to stick to a healthy eating regime when the wider world around me was falling to pieces before my eyes?
I was terrified that the reports of record voter registration and early voting would be a mirage of hope. I was afraid that all those votes were just going to turn out to be right wing extremists rushing the polls while earnest liberals would have been purged from voting registries or their early ballots thrown out on some ridiculous technicalities.
On Tuesday, November 6, 2018, I voted. I prayed. Then I went to work. During the day, I sent texts reminding my loved ones to vote. I didn’t laugh during the day when my husband called and joked about voting for the third party Libertarian for the promise to legalize marijuana. I was in no mood to joke and scolded him fiercely for even considering withholding his vote from our Democratic candidate by wasting it on a Libertarian troll. For legal pot? We can just go to Colorado for vacation, no need to waste a precious vote for it. He better not have done that!
The rest of the day, I avoided the news. When I got home that night I left my phone in my purse. I’m a phone addict, so if it’s out, I’ll have it in my hand. I wanted to avoid seeing anything on any social media about the election. I was too scared. The 2016 presidential election left me too traumatized. The memes for “me voting 2016 vs me voting 2018” are funny because they are so painfully true.
Finally, around 9:00 pm, I pulled my phone out of my purse to see if my college daughter had texted me. She hadn’t, but one of my oldest and most liberal friends had. “Are you watching?” the text said.
That was all the encouragement I needed to just to take one peek at Facebook. And there I saw it. The Blue Wave. I rushed to text my friend back, and my college daughter, and half a dozen other friends with the news. Some were glued to cable news channels, monitoring every precinct update. Others, like me, were hiding their eyes, afraid to see the flames.
The joy in finding out that at least some, actually a lot, of our candidates won, was like seeing a miracle. And women! So many women! The Pink Wave! It is a miracle. The depression, despondence, and despair lifted significantly for me and my friends and family. We have hope.
There is still much to be done, but we all needed this burst of hope more than I can say. Thank you voters! Thank you Americans!
