Dear kids,

I wish I could fully encapsulate the anticipation your mom - and a lot of your country - is feeling right now. This very minute we're awaiting the announcement of the president elect for his swearing in.
Knowing that behind all of this pomp and circumstance is hope in a man who was elected through grass roots efforts, someone who was noticed by character and acts before a big party machine could officially adopt him as theirs to offer up to voters has warmed this politically cynical soul.
I am listening to Yo Yo Ma and his contemporaries play right now, and the music is fresh and uplifting. Like today's sky: brilliantly bright, no clouds, blue...
I am stuck by how alone I am while looking at images of millions of people gathered in DC. I am in an office by myself, pumping milk for Henry.
And though those images remind me of how big this country is, how many opinions and interests and hopes are represented by few elected leaders, I am feeling very integral in this process. I ask myself: how has my life and what I've done with it lead this country to this point? I have had the opportunity to formally serve our country as an Americorps member and have assisted individuals, families and communities beyond that committment. I have assisted in building houses and educating young people and cleaning up parks and environmentally protected areas. I vote like my life depends on it (because I believe it does). I am outspoken about equal rights and believe in our Constitution.
I am one. And those millions are made of many, many ones. And if we all worked together in the spirit that the world has caught in it's throat today...
Just last night Willa and I talked about Martin Luther King Jr. I told her he worked to make sure that people were treated the same - no matter how they looked. I told her there are many people who are doing that work still today. I like to think that her parents are among those people working for the rights of, and to improve the lives of people with physical, emotional, and intellectual disabilities.
I am hoping to lead you, Willa and Henry, into lives that benefit others somehow - not just by making shareholders of a company a little wealthier.
I voted for this President. That's something I can proudly declare for the first time in 8 years.
Kids, it's a proud moment for this country. How special that you're alive at this moment. How amazing that someday you'll take it for granted.
Until and beyond that day, I dedicate myself, and will continue to challenge myself, your dad, you both, and everyone I know to help this country (in every little pocket we find ourselves in) become a more actualized version of the ideals of truth, justice, equality and promise.
Right now our new leader is speaking, and it's time for us to listen. And directly afterwards, act.