Four Daze [View all]

"Truth forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne. Yet that scaffold sways the future, And, behind the dim unknown, Standeth God within the shadow, Keeping watch above his own." -- James Russell Lowell, "The Present Crises," 1845


It was a strange four days.

Two days before the election, I learned that one of my best friends over the past fifty years had died. He had lived a full life, though it included a lot of suffering. His son died a tragic death at the age of 17. His wife never got over that painful loss, and eventually took her own life. I will never forget the three of them.

The next day, I learned my 43-year old cousin was in a coma. She was not going to recover, and died early this morning. Twenty years ago, her brother & sister-in-law's eleven year old son died in his sleep. Shortly after that, she found her best friend/ sister-in-law, who had taken her own life. My cousin never recovered from finding her.

Then came Election Day. I was fully confident that VP Harris would win. By early evening, I turned off the news. But the next twelve hours included communications from a wide variety of family and friends. They were saying things that I am still too numb to really consider ..... Was there corruption? The numbers don't make sense. The Harris-Walz campaign was outstanding. Or it was flawed.

It is too early for me to reach any conclusions. I can say the numbers don't add up to me. Plus a friend with an extensive military career -- though now retired -- told me he is very suspicious. At the same time, I know that hatred, sexism, and racism are in style in our country.

In the next few days, I will huddle with my books about/ by Gandhi and King. And read a select few old letters from the Hurricane. But right now, I am numb.