yom huledet

the country celebrated my older brother's very first entrance into this world on November 4, 1980 by electing a B-list actor with a beaming smile. it hasn't gotten much better since.

november 4 is a very difficult birthday to have, especially if you're a political person. my brother is. my whole family is, in fact. so every four years, right around his birthday, my family gets very excited before becoming thrilled or crushed. last presidential term, my brother got a reprieve, as the election results didn't trickle in with finality until thanksgiving. this time, he wasn't so lucky.

my brother emerged from college with one goal: find his way onto an election campaign and keep the elephants from trampling on yet another birthday. in his first goal, he succeeded beyond imagination. for over a year now, he's been traveling around the country, living in and gaining appreciation for states i've never visited. one winter's day in iowa, he found that his car had been sabotaged. another morning, in an exhausted haze, he drove to work leaving half of his belongings on the sidewalk, including the inflatable mattress he'd been using as a bed. a woman living nearby contacted him later to tell him that she'd rescued everything and kept it safe.

despite his best efforts and the best efforts of his candidate and coworkers, the blue states are bluer than blue. but we were electrified for a while there, and that won't go away. it was a great year for politics and he got to be a part of it.
happy birthday, adam. however it worked out, at least you got your wish.

me? i'm mending. already i feel mostly back to normal. sleep helped. the world really isn't that different than it was three days ago, only the excitement's gone. like everyone else, i believe firmly that we can't give up. also, and seriously, i think it's important than the 49% not vilify the 51%. there are extremists (yes, some would say, on both sides) but the majority of us -- imagine a venn diagram with me now -- would agree on many things. certainly that nothing will be gained from alienating ourselves from each other.

i look, though not exclusively, to barack obama to help us heal this breach. he is one sign of hope.