Hope

I voted this afternoon.  On the way to the polling place the news on the radio was nothing but depressing- assassination plots, economic depression, war.  But as we were leaving the voting place I was surprisingly upbeat, hopeful even.  Not because of the particular candidates I chose (although I did my best to be careful and thoughtful) but because I saw so many people who CARED, who cared what happens and how it happens. And on the way home I heard a story on NPR about a former politician who was saying that she hates the cynicism she hears from the media and some members of the general public.  She made the point that for every indicted senator there are thousands of unpublicized civil servants who go to work every day and try to make the best decisions they can, who truly want to do a good job and try very hard to do the right things. And it reminded me to have faith, not just in God, but in the kindness and goodness of other human beings.  

And I am writing this today so that my baby girl will someday know that we entered into this adoption and this family-making with faith and hope in humankind.  We know that she will face hardship and discrimination, that life may be difficult and heartbreaking but it will also be filled with people who love and support her.  And I will try to remind myself, her, my boys and everyone else, that the majority of people who surround her and us, both in our hometown and our country, believe that women and people of color can and should be in positions of importance and power.  And they believe in being kind and trying very hard to do the best they can.