Raves, rants and reality

Every week it is my responsibility to collect the information for the courthouse news. While I was in the courthouse this week I decided I might as well vote early because I had already done my research and as we put the paper together on Tuesdays, I didn’t want to take the time to vote on our busiest day of the week, here at the Observer.

As I was casting my presidential vote I was momentarily sidetracked by a flash of a Facebook post I’d seen the night before between my oldest brother and sister. Although that post was tame in comparison to some debates I’ve read in social media lately, the interaction unfortunately reminded me of one or two childhood holiday dinners.

Now, in my family it is no secret that my older sister is, has always been and will always be a strong supporter of the liberal side of things. On the other side of the coin we have pretty much the rest of the family fiercely defending the elephants.

Personally, I like to consider myself an Independent, having been known to continuously throw my vote away to dreamers like Ron Paul. That’s just who I am, anyway, back to my story.

I have memories of one or two childhood holidays where my older brothers, sister and parents would get into loud and often scary disagreements while my mother’s delicious home cooked meal was sitting cooling in her cut glass serving dishes. Eventually, one of two things would happen, either someone would storm out or tempers would start to waver and dinner would be eaten with forced niceties and eyes darting over wine glasses.

I am more than a decade younger than my closest brother and just over fifteen years younger than my two oldest siblings so my memories might not be as accurate as theirs on this subject. However, I do remember, even back when I must have only been around ten years old, feeling that all this political stuff should not be that big of a deal, I mean, we are supposed to be a family. Isn’t family supposed to love and support one another, no matter what? Isn’t family the origin of compassion towards others? If we cannot be sensitive to our own flesh and blood when it comes to some arbitrary person that is limited to running our country for no more than eight years anyway, are we not hardly more than the most evil and corrupt politicians already? Although these may not have been the exact thoughts of my ten year old self, my feelings towards the issue remain unchanged, if not stronger, now that I’m older and wiser.

So, as I was voting this week, instead of caring one iota about the outcome of this disruptive, embarrassing and horrible presidential election, I am left with only one concern on my mind and in my heart. I pray that all of us and our families survive the uncertain political future with compassion, empathy and love. Remember, love - not politics - is the meaning of life, and you can quote me on that.