On a Happier Note<\/p>\n
My wife and I are headed out; it\u2019s time for retired folks to travel!!\u00a0 I\u2019ll 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 \u201chappier\u201d news in our world.<\/p>\n
We live in Licking County, Ohio, in the middle of \u201cTrump Country.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s also in the heart of Ohio\u2019s 12th<\/sup>Congressional District, the one that Democrats almost flipped in the August Special Election.\u00a0Two years ago the Republican won with 66% of the vote, in August it was a mere .02%.\u00a0 The polls show it\u2019s just a close for the November 6th<\/sup>election.\u00a0If Dems can win here, they can win everywhere.<\/p>\n Of course we voted, early, at the Licking County Board of Elections in Newark, Ohio.\u00a0 And we did have to stand in line for fifteen minutes, I hope (and think) that\u2019s a good sign.\u00a0 As we stood in line, we got to witness an uplifting event.\u00a0 An extended family, my guess would be of Indian or Pakistani descent, were casting their first votes as American citizens.\u00a0 There were the great-grandparents, grandparents, parents and young kids (they came along for the ride) all casting their first votes. \u00a0Some 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.<\/p>\n After they voted, they all gathered in front of the building, under the \u201cLicking County\u201d sign, and took a family picture.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know who they voted for, and there was some \u201cunrest\u201d in the line as “L County” dealt with diversity, but I was proud of those new citizens, and proud of the nation they joined.<\/p>\n The other uplifting recent event in our lives started with sad news.\u00a0 A young friend was diagnosed with breast cancer, faced with the struggles of chemotherapy and surgery.\u00a0 She and her husband are also confronted with the reality of American healthcare:\u00a0 no matter how well you are financially prepared, a major health crisis creates a major financial crisis as well. \u00a0My 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.<\/p>\n 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. \u00a0And, 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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n Local stores asked what they could do, from gift certificates for raffles to donation jars on their counters. \u00a0Everyone we asked wanted to help, from bars to beauty salons.<\/p>\n Maybe our small town is best symbolized by this story.<\/p>\n 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\u2019t sure anyone would stop.\u00a0At ten, just as we got setup, a mini-van pulled in and a man jumped out. \u201cI saw this on Facebook,\u201d he said \u201cand didn\u2019t want to miss out.\u201d\u00a0 He dropped $10 in the can, and said \u201cGod bless you.\u201d\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n Eventually it warmed up a little, and the sun came out, and we made close to $1000.<\/p>\n In our world, dominated by the negativity of the President and the frustration of politics, it\u2019s easy to get so \u201cthem against me\u201d that we end up \u201csticking to our own side.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s good to see, even in Pataskala, Licking County, Trump and God\u2019s country, that people can still be people; willing to help and excited to be Americans.\u00a0 Good things still happen.<\/p>\n As we grow more fragmented and polarized, that\u2019s important to remember.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"