Dear family,
You guys know how much I love the holidays. Of course because of the obvious cheer and excitement of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s, but also because I get to see you. While we see each other fairly frequently anyway, the holidays are a time when we are guaranteed to all be together, and every year I can’t wait to celebrate with you. But now, I’m feeling something towards our next holiday together that I’ve never felt before: dread.
I hadn’t been “old enough” to discuss politics with you during the previous election cycles, but over the past year and a half, I’ve had more than my fair share of discussions, and even arguments, about it. Some of us have starkly different views on who we support for president, which leads to an animosity with each other in a way we’ve never felt before.
Now that I’m going to school three and a half hours away from home, I don’t get to see you as often as I used to. I’ve never had to miss you as much as I do when I’m away from home, and I want to enjoy the limited time I get to spend with you. Please don’t mar what could be a fun holiday by gloating over Trump’s win.
In our talks in the past, you’ve constantly fallen back on your single reason for voting Trump – whether it’s that you’re anti-abortion, or you want more jobs. But mostly, you’ve justified yourself by saying that “he’s the lesser of two evils,” or “he’s a businessman, he could be okay,” or some half-hearted statement that always ends with blaming “Crooked Hillary” for America’s problems.
For you, this election ended in a lukewarm fashion – at least the person you hated marginally less than his opponent was elected. But for me, this result is beyond devastating. For me, a man who defies all of my values and political opinions was just elected President. A man who I cannot stomach to look at, who relied on a rhetoric of hate and violence, which you ignored to protect your one reason for voting for him. It may not matter to you, but you know how much it matters to me.
I don’t want to fight with you. I don’t want to repeat my same arguments in favor of Hillary, while you shoot back the same retorts against her. We’ve been having the same conversation for over a year, and frankly, I’m tired of it. We will never agree on this and now I’m okay with accepting it.
But despite the fear that our conversation will turn political again, I’m still bursting with excitement at the idea of seeing you again. I can’t wait to run to the door when I hear the bell ring, hang out in my room together, help out with you in the kitchen, and hear about all your lives over dinner. It’s the first time we’re going to see each other since the election, and the first time in a while I’ll see you in general. I hope we can make our holidays as great as they always are, without letting our differing political views ruin our night. Love you, and see you soon!
Love,
Jess