On a Happier Note
My wife and I are headed out; it’s time for retired folks to travel!! I’ll keep on writing, (computers work everywhere, but probably not for the next few days or so) but before I leave I wanted to point out some “happier” news in our world.
We live in Licking County, Ohio, in the middle of “Trump Country.” That’s also in the heart of Ohio’s 12thCongressional District, the one that Democrats almost flipped in the August Special Election. Two years ago the Republican won with 66% of the vote, in August it was a mere .02%. The polls show it’s just a close for the November 6thelection. If Dems can win here, they can win everywhere.
Of course we voted, early, at the Licking County Board of Elections in Newark, Ohio. And we did have to stand in line for fifteen minutes, I hope (and think) that’s a good sign. As we stood in line, we got to witness an uplifting event. An extended family, my guess would be of Indian or Pakistani descent, were casting their first votes as American citizens. There were the great-grandparents, grandparents, parents and young kids (they came along for the ride) all casting their first votes. Some were given help with translating the ballot language (Ohio has a State Issue that reduces drug possession penalties in favor of treatment) and they completed their civic duty.
After they voted, they all gathered in front of the building, under the “Licking County” sign, and took a family picture. It reminded my of how important the vote is to those who may not have had that opportunity in their past lives. In our nation where less than 50% vote even in the most important elections, these new citizens made it a family outing to go and exercise their rights. I don’t know who they voted for, and there was some “unrest” in the line as “L County” dealt with diversity, but I was proud of those new citizens, and proud of the nation they joined.
The other uplifting recent event in our lives started with sad news. A young friend was diagnosed with breast cancer, faced with the struggles of chemotherapy and surgery. She and her husband are also confronted with the reality of American healthcare: no matter how well you are financially prepared, a major health crisis creates a major financial crisis as well. My wife managed the effort to raise funds, not necessarily to cover the costs (estimated at over $400,000 in the next two years) but to help keep their lives going, as our friend missed work due to treatments and dealt with the day-to-day bills.
We asked our small town, Pataskala, to buy T-Shirts and raffle tickets (Ohio State football tickets on the line) and drop their change in cans in the local stores. And, as this town does, the folks of Pataskala helped out, and we raised close to $3000 in a couple of weeks. No one asked whether you were a Trump supporter (though by the averages, most of Pataskala was) they just helped out. The town mayor stopped by and bought a T Shirt and a ticket – $30 – for $100. By the way, when the internet explodes with small town crisis, he posts pictures of goats and sunsets to calm everyone down. He’s what you want in a small town leader.
Local stores asked what they could do, from gift certificates for raffles to donation jars on their counters. Everyone we asked wanted to help, from bars to beauty salons.
Maybe our small town is best symbolized by this story.
We set up our camper in the Hardware store parking lot on Sunday morning in the rain. The goal was to sell T-Shirts, but it was cold and wet, and we weren’t sure anyone would stop. At ten, just as we got setup, a mini-van pulled in and a man jumped out. “I saw this on Facebook,” he said “and didn’t want to miss out.” He dropped $10 in the can, and said “God bless you.” We asked if he wanted any of the items we had to sell, but he said no, he just wanted to be a part of helping.
Eventually it warmed up a little, and the sun came out, and we made close to $1000.
In our world, dominated by the negativity of the President and the frustration of politics, it’s easy to get so “them against me” that we end up “sticking to our own side.” It’s good to see, even in Pataskala, Licking County, Trump and God’s country, that people can still be people; willing to help and excited to be Americans. Good things still happen.
As we grow more fragmented and polarized, that’s important to remember.
