Hope

I awoke early today with thoughts of the future whirling through my head.  It’s Election Day and this will be the ninth Presidential Election I will vote in.  I find myself thinking about the trajectory of my life and where Stella’s life will lead.

I was born when JFK was in the White House.  He was young and represented a new generation of Americans, a future filled with hope.  Stella, of course, was born while Barack Obama resides in the White House.  An even more historic moment in time.  Something that seemed impossible fifty years ago.

Today I will go vote and I will take my daughter along with me.  With all the problems with our democracy and our country, I still feel pride and hope when I walk into that voting booth.  I want Stella to feel that same sense of pride and civic duty.

Stella’s been walking now for over a month and each day she gets better at it.  Soon she’ll be running around and falls will decrease as her skill increases.  There may be times in her life where she may stumble, get right up and walk on.  My hope is that she will live in a world where that’s possible, where anything is possible.

So today I cast my vote for the future, for Obama, because I want Stella to grow up in a country filled with hope, opportunity and fairness.