I have neglected this place for 7 months. And I wasn't sure if I'd ever come back. As indicated in my last post, I am now a mom to a beautiful baby girl, who turned one not too long ago in October. My life has completely changed: I went from working as a full time associate attorney in the suburbs of PA to staying home (which is now Colorado) almost every day to take care of my child. I continue to work as much as I can, but it's not like it used to be, not even remotely close. I'm also self-employed now. My husband and I have our own law practice, so we are small business owners.
When you have a child, a lot changes. Obviously, my career. Then there's the whole emotional and psychological thing as well. You start wanting everything to be perfect for your child. You want her to be in a perfect world where people are kind, loving and everything around her is safe.
My hopes of wanting a kind, loving and safe society for my daughter was shattered on November 8th, 2016 when this country I love, elected Donald Trump as the new president. This event has prompted me to come back to this place as I feel compelled to express my strong emotions about it.
I cried at the outcome of this election. All our lives, we were told and believed that, when you work hard, you can do anything. Well, Hillary Rodham Clinton worked her ass off, served the public most of her life, and ran twice to become the first female president of the United States of America. And the outcome? She lost to an egotistical, narcissistic, women trashing, race discriminating, self-serving reality star who boasted about not having paid taxes for the last 15 plus years and getting away with it. Let's not forget all the women who have made allegations regarding his sexual assaults. Oh and the fact that he stiffed many blue collar workers, who worked on DT's ostentatious projects. Yet, it's my understanding that they make up most of the population that voted for him. That tells me that there are still people, who cannot accept a qualified female as a leader of this country.
I cried at the outcome of this election. All our lives, we were told and believed that, when you work hard, you can do anything. Well, Hillary Rodham Clinton worked her ass off, served the public most of her life, and ran twice to become the first female president of the United States of America. And the outcome? She lost to an egotistical, narcissistic, women trashing, race discriminating, self-serving reality star who boasted about not having paid taxes for the last 15 plus years and getting away with it. Let's not forget all the women who have made allegations regarding his sexual assaults. Oh and the fact that he stiffed many blue collar workers, who worked on DT's ostentatious projects. Yet, it's my understanding that they make up most of the population that voted for him. That tells me that there are still people, who cannot accept a qualified female as a leader of this country.
I feel gutted, devastated, sad, angry, and despondent. The media has already started talking about having hope and healing with love. But I'm having a real difficulty in trying to regain hope and strength after this election. As a woman, a mother, an immigrant, who has tried to live her life as properly as possible, it is so hard for me to now believe that if my daughter works hard, she will achieve her dreams. (When I say that I lived my life as "properly as possible", I mean that in the sense of working hard, paying my taxes, loving our society and the diversity within, and never robbing anyone of their rights, money, etc.)
I am scared as to what the next 4 years will bring to this country. But here's what I know about myself and this country: we will not be defeated by fear. As we commemorate another Veteran's day, we should be reminded of the fearless men and women who served and protected this country. And in that spirit, I will slowly but surely regain my hope in the best of this country. It helps to have a child, whose innocent face acts as a daily reminder that love trumps hate.
